New England Patriots

▪ American football team

 American professional gridiron football (football, gridiron) team based in Foxborough, Mass., that plays in the National Football League (NFL). The Patriots have won three Super Bowl titles (2002, 2004, 2005) and six American Football Conference (AFC) championships.

      The franchise joined the American Football League (AFL) in 1960 as the Boston Patriots and quickly fielded a competitive team that featured quarterback Vito “Babe” Parilli, linebacker Nick Buoniconti, and wide receiver Gino Cappelletti. The Patriots posted a winning record in their second season and advanced to the AFL championship game in their fourth. However, after a second place divisional finish in 1966, the team recorded seven consecutive losing seasons. The Patriots also struggled to find a permanent home stadium, playing at four different Boston-area locations in 10 years. In 1971 the team—a member of the NFL following the 1970 AFL-NFL merger—relocated to Foxborough and was renamed the New England Patriots.

      Led by John Hannah, considered one of the greatest offensive linemen in NFL history, future Hall of Fame cornerback Mike Haynes, and quarterback Steve Grogan, the Patriots experienced sporadic success in the 1970s and '80s. They advanced to their first Super Bowl in 1986 but lost to a dominant Chicago Bears team, 46–10. Eleven years would pass before the Patriots would return to the Super Bowl, this time under the direction of coach Bill Parcells and led by quarterback Drew Bledsoe. New England lost Super Bowl XXXI to the Green Bay Packers, but their postseason appearance marked the beginning of three straight years of play-off football for the team, then a franchise record.

      The Patriots made one of the most significant moves in franchise history with the hiring of Bill Belichick as head coach in 2000. A noted defensive assistant coach through most of his career (he also had a stint as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, 1991–95), Belichick quickly built a powerful team around unheralded veteran free agents (such as linebacker Mike Vrabel and running back Corey Dillon) and savvy draft picks (including linebacker Tedy Bruschi and cornerback Ty Law). In 2001 a serious injury to Bledsoe paved the way for Tom Brady (Brady, Tom), a relatively unknown sixth-round draft choice, to take over the Patriots' offense and lead the team to a surprising Super Bowl win the following February. Brady would become an elite passer and guide the Patriots to two more Super Bowl victories in 2004 and 2005. New England traded for All-Pro wide receiver Randy Moss before the 2007 season and went on to shatter numerous offensive records and post the only16–0 regular-season record in NFL history, only to lose to the underdog New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII.

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