Patriot fans over 60 have "Giant" roots

Did you realize that most  Patriot fans in New England over the age of 60 like myself grew up as New York Giants fans?. The reason is simple.We had no choice as there was no NFL foot ball team in New England before 1960. And it took many years before the Boston Patriots/New England Patriots gained enough respect with local football fans to cause them to switch their loyalties. In fact it wasn't until the New York Jets defeated the Baltimore Colts in SuperBowl III that NFL fans began looking at the American Football League with enough respect to accept a merger between the two leagues.

                     New York Giants vs Baltimore Colts, 1958: " The Greatest Game Ever Played"

Giants' broadcasts were still available during the early Patriot years and even beyond due to mandatory blackouts, so I really wasn't aware of what was going on with Billy Sullivan's team up at Fenway Park, except that the city of Boston wasn't very accomodating in helping them find a permanent home.

                                                             Hall of Famer Sam Huff
For those who came of age watching Giants' football in the late 1950's and early 1960's, every Sunday was spent watching the Giants on a small black and white TV set and listening to the crisp play by play and soothing voice of Chris Schenkel who was the voice of the New York Football Giants from 1952-1965 long before he became famous for his broadcasting of bowling and college football games. As a football broadcaster back then, he had no equals.

                                                 New York Giants Quarterback and Hall of Famer: YA Tittle

When I played football in the backyard or out at Buttonwood Park in New Bedford, MA with my friends I would pretend I was YA tittle or Frank Gifford, whose poster I had tacked to my bedroom wall for years. Others pretended they were Johnny Unitas or Raymond Berry of the Baltimore Colts, who had become the chief rivals of the New York Giants made famous in "the Greatest Game Ever Played" that was broadcast nationally from a very muddy Yankee Stadium in 1958.

I still remember being mesmerized by the infamous Giants' defense featuring middle linebacker Sam Huff and a dominating front four of Rosey Grier, Andy Robustelli, Jim Katcavage and Dick Modzelewski. The unit was coached by a man named Tom Landry, who later became the head coach of the expansion Dallas Cowboys. His counterpart on Offense was someone name vince Lombardi, who departed for Green Bay eventually with a working knowledge of New York's defense, while he personally supervised the Packer's offense, which of couse was the old Giants' offense.

                                                                    Frank Gifford

 It never occurred to me at the time that the obscure American League Football team that was tearing up the grass at beautiful Fenway Park in Boston, MA would someday compete against the New York Giants in an NFL Championship game called the SuperBowl for a trophy that would be named after one of the Giants coaches. Other names that stand out in my mind were Alex Webster, Roosevelt Brown, Joe Morrison, Charlie Conerly, Del Shafner, Dick Lynch, Don Chandler, Pat Summerall, and head coach Alie Sherman.

The city of Boston refused to help the Patriots find a stadium so they moved to Foxboro. But even after the move it was still easier to watch the  Giants on TV than the home team because Patriots games were most always blacked out  because they could never fill Shaeffer Statdium in Foxboro. A lot of fans continued following the Giants, but most began following the Patriots at the games it self or on radio.

My father went to the very first game at the old Shaeffer Stadium while I was in the Navy and wrote me about unfinished toilets and old two lane highways backed up all the way to Boston

I still don't think the Patriots should have a thing to do with the City of Boston for the way they treated the organization. However I'm sure after the Patriots win the Superbowl this year (I hope) they will have their victory parade in Boston as always.

When I first saw the Giant’s play in the modern era I was struck  by the fact their blue or red and white uniforms didn’t look anything like they did on black and white TV..

But nostalgia only goes so far as most of us who lived through that era are Patriots fans to the core now, with a few exceptions.

Now there is nothing more I want to see than the Patriots get some revenge Sunday for what the Giants did to us in 2007 and I'm confident they will. I fully expect the Patriots to confuse them with their hurry up offense and surprise the Giants with a running game. We know they have that in their arsenal and it's interesting that neither the Giants nor the sports pundits on the airwaves  seem to be to concerned with that.

Furthermore I don't think the Giants rush is as effective against the run as it is in getting to the quaterback, especially when the opponents offensive line is suspect due to injuries as it was the last time they played each other. Running plays will force the Giants to bring some of those defensive backs in and allow them to get some receivers open as well.  

There is no question that the Giants are playing great right now since they have been getting healthier, but so have the Pats on both sides of the ball. If you're going to judge the Patriots based on their earlier season loss to the Giants, you're making a big mistake. They have won 10 games in a row since then and last week the Patriots proved that Brady doesn't have to have a big day in order to win, and Baltimore's defense was far superior to the Giants'. The Patriots special teams are also due to display some unexpected heroics as well. Remember this is a team that practices situational football constantly and they'll be ready this time as the game runs down. I just read where the Patriots even practiced their half-time routine which will be very long while Madonna is putting on her show. Now that's what I call attention to detail. .

I haven't been able to watch the Super Bowl when the Giants stole the game right from under our noses in the last seconds until this week. I had forgotten how close the Patriots were to finishing out a perfect 19-0 season. Assante Samuel missed an interception right at the end which would have sealed the victory for them. And Eli Manning should have never been allowed to slip away from Rodney Harrison before throwing the miraculous helmet pass. And how did Elis Hobbs allow Plaxico Burres to get so open with the game on the line like that?

Oh well....its time for a little payback this Sunday folks. A win will mean so much to Robert Kraft after enduring this emotionally draining season that saw his wife pass away just before the start of training camp. A victory will also seal Bellechick's and Tom Brady's legacy for good. I can't speak for everybody in New England that followed football before 1960, but I know that no matter how happy the New England Patriots make me feel this Sunday and in the future, I will always have fond memories of YA Tittle and those great New York Giant teams of the past. However when I look out on the field this Sunday during Superbowl XLVI, the only thing I'll be hoping and cheering for is a resounding Patriots victory, that will help all of the Patriots and all of New England put some closure to SuperBowl XLII..  After all what's there to worry about? It's not like these are the 1958 New York Giants. Go Pats!

The following article entitled Pat fans aren't born, they're made was published in the New Bedford Standard Times the day before the SuperBowl. It's a shorter version of the above post.