On This Date in Sports: September 19, 1971
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
After a decade of playing in several stadiums around the city of Boston, the Patriots open their own stadium in Foxboro. With the move the team becomes the New England Patriots, to broaden their fan base. The opening of Schaefer Stadium a 61,114 seat stadium is significant as it’s also the debut of number one overall pick Jim Plunkett. The Heisman winning quarterback has a solid game with two touchdowns as the Patriots upset the Oakland Raiders 20-6.
The Boston Patriots were one of the original eight teams in the upstart American Football League starting play in 1960. Professional football was always been a hard sell for fans in Boston, and the Patriots had modest success in their early seasons. However, finding a home proved tough for the Patriots as they played at Nickerson Field on the campus of Boston University in their first three seasons, before moving to Fenway Park in 1963. With its Green Monster, Fenway Park proved less than ideal for football and the Patriots began looking for a new home, as the merger with the NFL helped create more fan interest in the team. Over a three-year period, the Patriots had three different homes, playing their final season in Fenway in 1968, before spending 1969 at Alumni Stadium on Boston College’s campus and 1970 at Harvard Stadium.
Unable to find a place to play in Boston Common, Owner Billy Sullivan made plans to finance the building of one on land donated by the Bay State Raceway in Foxboro. The stadium at cost of $7.1 million took just one year to build, with a cost overrun of $200,000. To help offset the expense of building a new stadium, Sullivan sold the naming rights to Schaefer Beer. It was one of the earliest examples of a stadium having a cooperate sponsorship. With the move to Foxboro, also came a name change for the team. With Foxboro located halfway between Boston and Providence, the Patriots originally were going to be called the Bay State Patriots, but the name seemed clunky. Instead, they became the New England Patriots marketing themselves to the entire region.
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After finishing 2-12 the previous season, the Patriots with the number one overall pick chose Heiman Winner Jim Plunkett out of Stanford. The Patriots coached by John Mazur were hoping Plunkett was the franchise quarterback who could turn around the struggling franchise. The Patriots first game at Schaffer Stadium came against the Oakland Raiders, one of the premier teams in the AFC, who had lost in the Conference Championship three straight seasons after playing in Super Bowl II. The game turned into a defensive battle, as the Raiders scored the only points in the first half on a touchdown run by Pete Banaszak, missing the extra point. The Patriots got on the board in the third quarter on a 33-yard pass to Ron Sellers, add a second touchdown later with a 20-yard pass to Roland Moss. The John Madden led Raiders appeared to not be ready to start the season, as they fumbled six times. The Patriots would add a pair of field goals by Charlie Gogolak in the fourth quarter and won the game 20-6. In his debut, Jim Plunkett completed 6-of-15 passes for 127 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
Jim Plunkett had a strong rookie season for New England, passing for 2,158 yards with 19 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. In 1972, Plunkett struggled badly throwing just eight touchdown passes against 25 interceptions. Turnovers would plague him for his entire career in New England before he lost his job to Steve Grogan in 1975. Jim Plunkett would later be traded to the San Francisco 49ers where he continued to struggle. After sitting out the 1978 season, Jim Plunkett signed with the Oakland Raiders, where he finally found success winning two Super Bowl championships.
Schaefer Stadium would later be renamed Sullivan Stadium and Foxboro Stadium with the Patriots suffering through some very lean years. After nearly moving to St. Louis in 1994, the Patriots were brought by Robert Kraft who helped change the culture in New England. Kraft financed his own stadium that opened next to the old Foxboro Stadium in 2002. In the final game at the old stadium, the Patriots again faced the Oakland Raiders in the Divisional Playoff Round. It would mark the beginning of a new chapter in New England Patriots history, known as the “Tuck Game” the Patriots beat the Raiders 16-13 in overtime on the way to winning Super Bowl XXXVI.