Logo used on the helmets of one of the original eight teams in the American Football League, the Boston Patriots. The logo was used in the inaugural 1960 season, then replaced with the “Pat Patriot” logo, a minuteman hiking a football, for the rest of the ten year AFL history, on into the team’s NFL days. The team finished last in the AFL’s Eastern Division that first year, under coach Lou Saban, who would go on to have great success in later years at Buffalo. Although they had a losing year, the Patriots had some players on their roster that first year who would be mainstays in their AFL years – Gino Cappelletti, Jim Lee Hunt and Bob Dee – all of whom have had their uniform numbers retired by the franchise.
Get Smart
November 26, 2013 at 6:48 am
When the NFL and AFL merged in 1970 , the Patriots were placed in the AFC East division, where they still play today. The following year, the Patriots moved to a new stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts , which would serve as their home for 30 years. As a result of the move, they announced they would change their name from the Boston Patriots to the Bay State Patriots. The name was rejected by the NFL and on March 23, 1971, the team officially announced they would become the New England Patriots.