Will 2009 be another Super Bowl win for the New England Patriots?
There was a time, in the beginning of the AFL career, that the New England Patriots would have struggled to make it to a championship game. After their move to the suburbs and a name change - from Boston Patriots to New England Patriots - along with a stadium to call home, the Patriots began to mark their territory, and haven’t yet stopped. With numerous championship titles and broken records, fans expect nothing less than a breath taking season in 2009.
The Patriots began their football career as an AFL franchise - the eighth to ever be signed in. Billy Sullivan - owner of the AFL franchise - chose to call them the Boston Patriots, and hired a local Boston artist to design their logo and colors. After all was said and done, the team was ready to play football.
These were the infant years for the Patriots, which was obvious in their lack of wins, and the fact that they did not even have their own stadium. The team was constantly jumping between Fenway Park, Alumni Stadium, Nickerson Field, and Harvard Stadium whenever they had a home game. They were able to make it to the AFL championship game in 1963, but did not see another career altering game until over 10 years down the road.
Finally, in the early 70s, after the NFL / AFL merger, the team became an NFL franchise. At this time they team moved to a Boston suburb - Foxborough. This move brought a new name to the team - the New England Patriots. Between the move, name change, and the move to the NFL, the Patriots began to play football. The next 10 years brought nothing but playoff and championship games, including a Super Bowl appearance in 1985. The Patriots had finally given fans something to be proud of, and from this point forward, tickets became scarce.
Over the years, the Patriots have brought home a number of championship titles, including Super Bowl wins in XXXVI, XXXVIII, and XXXIX. There is only one other team whom has ever won three Super Bowl Championships within a 5-year span, and only seven other teams who have ever won two Super Bowl games in a row. These records, alone, make it nearly impossible to get your hands on tickets to see the Patriots play.
An exceptional coach - Bill Belichick - and an amazing quarterback - Tom Brady, lead the Patriots - continuously - to victory. With these two guiding their every step, the team managed to win their way to an 18-game winning streak in 2003 - 2004 and another 21-game winning streak in 2006 - 2008; the second of which happens to be the longest streak in NFL history! (The team continued their winning streak into the playoffs; however, playoff games are not calculated into the winning streak records.)
Unlike their early years, the Patriots now have a field to call home, one that is known to football fans as the Gillette Stadium. The Patriots, after many changes and hardships have turned themselves into one of the best AFC Eastern Division teams ever, and one of the top NFL teams in the league. Unlike many other teams, they will not stop here; they will continue to fight for more.
Tickets, for the ‘09 season, are disappearing like hotcakes; season tickets can no longer be found. There is no doubt that this will be another phenomenal year for the New England Patriots and, maybe, another championship year! Few tickets remain, and these are not games that any football fan would want to miss.