Chapter 949: Chapter 949: The Lord of Foxborough

Chapter 949: The Lord of Foxborough

After the turn of the millennium, the 21st century officially began.

In the past 12 years, the NFL has had many exciting moments.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants each won two Super Bowl titles, rewriting their team histories. The St. Louis Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers also made breakthroughs with their defenses and each won a Super Bowl. In addition, the Indianapolis Colts, led by Peyton Manning, the New Orleans Saints, led by Drew Brees, and the Green Bay Packers, led by Aaron Rodgers, each won a championship, achieving great success.

But if someone were to ask, "What is the most successful NFL team since the 21st century?" The New England Patriots would undoubtedly be the right answer.

Founded in 1959, the New England Patriots were one of the founding members of the American Football League and one of the first teams to join the NFL in 1970. The team is located in the Greater Boston area in Massachusetts. In 1971, they officially moved their home stadium to Foxborough, outside of Boston, and changed their name from "Boston Patriots" to the current "New England Patriots."

The home stadium, Gillette Stadium, is located in Foxborough, so many fans affectionately call it "Foxborough."

Historically, the New England Patriots were not a strong team. From 1970 to 1990, they only made the playoffs twice and went through a 13-year period of not making the playoffs, which was the longest streak at the time. Although they had a great moment in the 1985 season when they made it to the Super Bowl, they lost to the incredibly tough Chicago Bears’ defense with a score of 10-45, which was the biggest Super Bowl point differential at the time.

In fact, even during that slump, the New England Patriots were a team that was hated by many in the league. This has a historical reason.

Going back to the earliest history of European settlement—or rather, the invasion of North America—New York and Boston were the main port cities. But there was a slight difference between the two regions. The New England region, where Boston is located, was mainly for British Protestants who were escaping religious persecution. New York, on the other hand, was more diverse and included speculators, blue-collar workers, and the poor.

Because of this difference, the New England region developed more quickly. In the mid-20th century, they moved most of their traditional industries to other states in the US or overseas where labor costs were cheaper. High-tech industries centered in Boston began to rise, including biotechnology, education, finance, services, and pharmaceuticals.

Slowly, this area became one of the wealthiest and most high-end areas in the US. Yale, Harvard, and MIT are all located in this area. Law, economics, politics, and finance all formed a unique leading position in this area.

Naturally, the people who lived in this area would or would not separate themselves from other regions, and a clear class system began to permeate every corner of society.

From the economy to politics, from education to law, from news to gangs, from language to culture, this area seemed to be a separate region from the rest of the US. They had their own pride and dignity and refused to be compared to other states.

In fact, the term "New England" itself is a "discriminatory term" because they consider themselves to be descendants of the British Empire, not people of mixed race with Native Americans and other immigrants.

Now, the term "New England" is not used as much. It specifically refers to the area that connects the six states of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Boston is the center of the entire area. Although it includes six states, the area and population are not large.

The population of the entire New England area is only ranked fifth among all the states in the US. The area of the entire region is ranked 20th among all the states.

In other words, it is a very small area. But they have their own system. Even in Hollywood, there is a unique Boston crew that is separate from other groups and rejects all outsiders. The movie "Spotlight" takes place in Boston. Through the movie, you can see the unique system that this area has created for itself.

When people talk about the North American continent, the West Coast, led by Los Angeles, and the East Coast, led by New York, are in a fierce rivalry because of their geography and history. But in the middle of all of this, the New England area, led by Boston, stands tall and keeps to itself. They even look down on New York, showing an arrogant attitude of being self-sufficient.

So, the New England area has never been popular in other states. The teams located here in the four major sports leagues—the Boston Red Sox in baseball, the Boston Celtics in basketball, the Boston Bruins in hockey, and the New England Patriots in football—are all unpopular in other regions.

The reality is that the above five teams are all strong teams in their respective leagues and have all won multiple championships.

And now, the Patriots have made things even worse. They changed their name from "Boston Patriots" to "New England Patriots," which is a name with strong proud connotations. The suffix "Patriots" is a clear provocation to all other regions in the US, as they claim to be the pioneers and patriots with the purest bloodline.

Imagine, with this kind of history and culture, how could people like this team?

Every year, there are protesters in the league who want the Washington Redskins to change their name because "Redskins" is a derogatory term for Native Americans. Similarly, there are countless fans who want the New England Patriots to change their name because they are provoking the patience of the entire US.

The New England Patriots have never been a favorite of the American people, and this is because of their history. Later, after they created their dynasty, they became even more arrogant. With the addition of Bill Belichick, the old fox’s cold and ruthless methods, negative news continued to emerge, and the team became an enemy of the league.

After the turmoil of the 70s and 80s, the team had a turning point in 1994. Robert Kraft bought the New England Patriots during a time of bankruptcy and instability. And before that, in 1993, the famous coach Bill Parcells, who had led the New York Giants to two Super Bowls, took over the team and slowly gave the team a new life.

With the support of the new owner, Parcells was able to do whatever he wanted. After a poor performance in the first half of the season, he boldly used the no-huddle offense, which almost no one dared to use at the time, and ended the second half of the season with a seven-game winning streak, making it to the playoffs.

In 1996, Bill Belichick, Parcells’ apprentice, was fired by the Baltimore Ravens and came to the New England Patriots to be his mentor’s assistant, serving as the defensive backs coach.

However, after making it to the Super Bowl again in 1997, they lost to the Green Bay Packers, led by Brett Favre. Parcells and Kraft’s relationship also broke down because Kraft was micromanaging the team and interfering with Parcells’ decision-making as the team’s manager, treating Parcells like a puppet. This relationship had completely fallen apart.

After the Super Bowl loss, Parcells chose to resign and tried to coach the New York Jets, a division rival. But he still had a contract with the Patriots and couldn’t leave. So, the Jets came up with a compromise. They hired Belichick, Parcells’ assistant, as the head coach and gave Parcells a consultant position to control things behind the scenes.

This angered Kraft, and the league had to step in to mediate. They used the Jets’ draft picks as compensation for Parcells’ departure, ending this farce.

In the next three seasons, the Patriots entered the Pete Carroll era—the same head coach who is now with the Seattle Seahawks. But Carroll’s performance in Foxborough was mediocre. They failed to make the playoffs for three consecutive years. After the 1999 season, Carroll was fired, and Kraft wanted to invite Belichick back to the team as head coach.

Also in 1999, Parcells resigned as the head coach of the New York Jets and announced his retirement from the NFL for the second time. He also reached an agreement with the team that Belichick would take over. But on the day of the press conference to announce his appointment, Belichick wrote his resignation on a piece of loose-leaf paper, and the press conference to announce his new job became a press conference to announce his resignation.

The farce of Parcells leaving the Patriots happened again. The Jets refused to let Belichick leave, and the league had to step in and mediate again. The Patriots traded their 2000 first-round pick for Belichick. On January 27, 2000, the Patriots officially entered the Belichick era.

Later, in the 2000 draft, Belichick selected Tom Brady with the 199th pick in the sixth round. The rest is history.

In 2001, 2003, and 2004, the New England Patriots became the second team in league history, after the Dallas Cowboys, to win three championships in four years. At the same time, they also made it to the Super Bowl twice in 2007 and 2011, both of which they lost to the New York Giants. In addition, the team also became the absolute ruler of the AFC East. Except for 2002 and 2008, they have never lost the top spot in the division.

In the past 12 years, the New England Patriots have become the most dominant and stable team in the league. No other team can compare.

People can find a hundred reasons not to like the New England Patriots, but objectively speaking, they are the most stable team in the NFL in the past decade, without a doubt. The combination of Belichick and Brady is also the most dangerous duo in the league, even though no one outside of the New England area likes them.

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