Before there was an ending, there had to be a beginning...
The team was coming off of a 2-14 season in 1992. There were rumors that the franchise was going to be moved to St. Louis. Foxboro Stadium was falling apart at the seams. Hope was beginning to fade for the old football team in New England. That all changed at the start of 1993 season.
Enter new owner in Robert Kraft and a new head coach in the legendary Bill Parcells. Together the two drafted quarterback Drew Bledsoe with the first overall pick in the 1993 NFL draft. The 6-5' 225 pound quarterback out of Washington St. brought hope to a franchise that was in dire need of a spark.
With virtually no running back for the first 2 seasons of his career Bledsoe passed an absurd amount. He set an NFL season record in 1994 with 691 attempts and 400 completions. This included in a legendary game that I will never forget against the Minnesota Vikings.
Down 20-3 at half time Bledsoe engineers a comeback and performance for the ages. He goes 45-70 and throws for 426 yards. His 45th completion was a TD pass to full back Kevin Turner in overtime. The touchdown gave the Patriots a 26-20 victory. Bledsoe's 45 completions and 70 pass attempts are both NFL single game records.
Three years later Bledsoe would lead the Patriots to the Super Bowl 31 against the Green Bay Packers. Although the Patriots lost, in just his third season he made the Patriots relevant to the Sports fans of New England.
Up until the late early 90's the Patriots were 4th on the list of Boston's most beloved teams. The Red Sox always are first, but the Celtics and Bruins were eons ahead of the where the Patriots franchise wanted to be.
The arrival of Parcells and most notably Bledsoe, allowed owner Robert Kraft to have faith in his purchase of the team. Bledsoe exited fans as revenue was brought in by all the ticket and merchandise sales. Thousands of fans fled to the old Patriots pro-shop to pick up their number 11 jerseys. People of New England finally showed loyalty to a team that always stood in the shadow of the 3 other teams playing in the city.
There eventually became a waiting list on season tickets. It was not to long ago that some Patriots games would be blacked out. Yes, blacked out! Meaning that the team didn't sell enough tickets for the networks to feel it was necessary to televise the game on TV. As a kid I could remember listening to the Patriots play the Dolphins in the final game of the 1993 season on the radio. Could you imagine having a Patriots game be so irrelevant that it wasn't even shown on TV? If you became a Patriots fan after 2001 you truly don't have an appreciation of what owner Robert Kraft, Bill Parcelles and Drew Bledsoe did for this franchise.
It's safe to say that without Bledsoe there would be no Gillette Stadium. Hell, route one used to be a 2 lane road. Majority of the Parking lots you see today used to be all dirt. Adjacent to the old Foxboro Stadium (Where Tobey Kieths Bar is Now) there was a pretty decent sized trailer park, where hundreds of people lived.
Plans for new CMGI/ Gillette Stadium were in the works far before Tom Brady came along. Brady was still going through puberty when Bledsoe was drilling TD passes to Ben Coates. Brady had zero to do with the erection of Gillette Stadium. Bledsoe built the foundation for the stadium and Patriots nation, Brady simply put the shingles on the roof.
As a player I love Tom Brady. I'm just making the point that Bledsoe played a huge role in the popularity of the New England Patriots. There is no doubt that Brady is a better quarterback than Bledsoe. However, if you followed the Patriots pre 1993, you know that this stadium and heck this team may not even be here if it wasn't for Drew.
Can you imagine Sundays in the fall without the Pats? Scary thought… Bledsoe is a class act on and off the field. His impact on this franchise is so much bigger than just wins and losses. On Saturday afternoon he will officially become a Patriots Hall of Famer. A fitting end to one of the most influential players in Patriots history.
Bledsoe NFL Career Ranks
• 6th in NFL history in pass attempts (6,717)
• 6th in NFL history in pass completions (3,839)
• 8th in NFL history in passing yards (44,611)
• 14th in NFL history touchdown passes (251)
