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New England Patriots

Reinstate the Red!

By Ryan McGowan

Bob Rafter was there at the beginning, and it wasn’t pretty.

“I was at the first preseason game with Elvis,” Rafter, 28, of Phoenix, but a Franklin (Mass.) native, said, referring to the current Patriots logo, which debuted in 1993 to replace the original “Pat Patriot”, the beloved icon that adorned the team’s helmets since the franchise’s first season as a charter member of the AFL in 1960.  “There were literally planes flying overhead dismissing Elvis.”

Rafter is not alone in Patriots Nation in his nostalgia for the original red-dominant uniforms.  Despite the franchise’s extended run of success since that ’93 season (which, not coincidentally, was the beginning of the Bill Parcells/Drew Bledsoe era), many fans clamor for a full-time return to the iconic jerseys of the team’s past.

Since the chance of jinxing the team’s success by switching uniforms at this point is pretty much moot, it needs to be said: the Patriots need to bring back the red jerseys and the Pat Patriot logo.

It's time to go back to the old school, the way Hog Hannah rolled.

New England dons the fabled uniforms for a few games every year, and the team aggressively markets the red jerseys as a profitable “third jersey” set.  They are much more aesthetically pleasing than the team’s current blues, which have themselves undergone a series of transformations since the original 1993 design.

The Pat Patriot logo is classy, sharp, and legendary.  The Elvis Patriot logo is cheesy, forced, and useless.  It’s a shame that an entire generation of Patriots fans have been born and grown up knowing nothing other than the less-than-stellar blues.  The blues themselves are not hideous– they aren’t the original Denver Broncos jerseys or the 1980 Houston Astros, for crying out loud– but they just can’t match the gravitas of the reds, made famous by the likes of Hog Hannah, Steve Grogan, and Steve Nelson.

Of course, the red uniforms also carry the stink of Irving Fryar, Zeke Mowatt, and Hugh Millen.

In 1993, the uniform change was a necessary part of the rebranding of the franchise from pathetic losers to competent contenders, the transition which started with Parcells and Bledsoe and continued through the ownership of Bob Kraft to the current Bill Belichick-era run of success.  People forget that the 1990 Patriots went 1-15 under Rod Rust, and were the subject of a sexual harassment scandal involving Boston Herald reporter Lisa Olson.  A drastic change was necessary, and with the new blue uniforms came a new team identity.

How can you not want to see these bad boys every week?

But for thousands upon thousands of fans, the Pat Patriot logo is the franchise.  Bringing back the original jerseys now won’t cause the Patriots locker room to become a chauvinistic peep show of “Patriot missiles” that it was in 1990.  The team won’t magically revert to the chaos and anarchy of the Victor Kiam ownership simply because Tom Brady’s long flowing brown locks are curling around the bottom of a white rather than a silver helmet.  Danny Woodhead’s baby face won’t suddenly morph into Robert Perryman or Michael Timpson without the Flying Elvis.  Deion Branch isn’t going to show up to practice with his hand in a cast, all sliced up courtesy of a little domestic disagreement.  The Pats’ ignominious past is dead and buried regardless of which logo adorns their helmets.

It is easy to see, though, why a lot of fans want to preserve the status quo.  A 2009 informal poll on the New England fan website PatsPulpit.com showed that 56% of Pats fans preferred keeping the logo and uniform as it currently is.

Rafter’s father, Don, is one who would rather not see a return to the reds.  “I suffered through a lot of [crappy] years in those red unis,” the elder Rafter said.  “Elvis brought me three Super Bowl titles.”

Indeed, the franchise’s most celebrated moments have taken place pretty much exclusively in the past 16 years (the exceptions being some of the AFL glories, the 1976 regular season, and the 1985 Super Bowl run).  The improbable march to the Super Bowl under Parcells in 1996.  The great Pats-Jets “Border War” games of the late 90’s after Parcells and Belichick ended up reunited in the Meadowlands.  The Cinderella story of 2001, with the Snow Bowl, the demolition of the Steelers, and the miracle in New Orleans.  The dynastic run of 2003-2004.  Yes, even the 18-1 season of 2007, which ended in the most devastating manner but not without producing some of the richest football memories of our spectating careers.

Maybe it's understandable to want to hold on to three Super Bowl titles in the blue jerseys.

But those are even more reasons to return to the classic red look.  The demons have been exorcised.  The bad karma from the dark ages of the late 80’s and early 90’s is gone forever.  The three B’s (Bob, Bill, and Brady) have made the team the model franchise for the National Football League. It’s about time the model franchise for the model professional sports league in America looked as sharp as they play.

Bob Rafter agrees that there is no comparison between the two logos.  Pat Patriot, he says, is clearly superior.

“It’s like comparing [Angelina] Jolie to the chick from Precious.”

It’s time to go back to our roots.  Let’s bring back the red.  Get it done, people.

By BostonMac

Ryan is a teacher, writer, journalist, basketball coach, sports aficionado, occasional real estate agent, and political junkie. He graduated from both the College of the Holy Cross (bachelor's) and Boston College (Master's), and knows anyone who has never heard of Holy Cross probably would never have gotten in there anyway. He is an unabashed Boston sports fan and homer who, according to lore, once picked the Patriots to win for 25 straight weeks on the "NFL Picks Show," which he co-hosts with Vin Diec, R.J. Warner, and Burton DeWitt. He is also an original co-host of SportsColumn's "Poor Man's PTI." He is married, lame, and a lifelong Massachusetts resident (except for a brief sojourn into the wilds of Raleigh, NC) who grew up in North Attleboro and currently lives and works in Everett.

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