New England Patriots 50th Anniversary Team

With the NFL recognizing the 50^th Anniversary of the AFL this season, the teams will all be wearing their “throwback uniforms” and giving the younger fans a chance to see what it was like watching the game in an earlier time.

With that thought in mind, we are bringing you the 50^th Anniversary New England Patriots team. With many players to choose from through the different eras, it’s easy to debate the merits of one to another. While I personally don’t remember the start of the franchise in 1960, I have been going to the games since the Fenway Park days of ’67. Yes … those days. It wasn’t always fun, but it was always entertaining being a Pats fan back then.

      OFFENSE

QUARTERBACK

 1.     Tom Brady – No brainer here, Brady has brought the franchise its 3 Super Bowl wins while rewriting the record book during the 2007 season, 50TDs, with only 8 INTs and  4806 yds passing. With 28 game winning drives in the 4^th Qtr in his career, and 2 SB MVPs on his resume. Nuff said 

2.     Drew Bledsoe – Gave the team and the franchise the face it was missing to rally from the horrible years of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Threw for nearly 30,000 yds in his Pats career. Led the team to SB XXXI. 

3.     (Honorable Mention) Vito “Babe Parilli- How can a team from the Northeast, not love a QB named Vito? Held the team’s TD record (31) until 2007. Named to 3 AFL All-Star teams and ALL-AFL 10 Year Anniversary Team in 1971. 

RUNNING BACK

1. 1.     Jim Nance – Still the one against all Pats RBs are measured. In 1966 he led the AFL in rushing with 1458 yds, the only time in its history that a runner eclipsed 1400 yards rushing. He also won the league’s MVP that year and his 104.1 yards per game average is still the team’s record, 43 years and counting. 45 career rushing TDs is still a franchise record. 
2. 2.     Sam Cunningham – Sam “Bam” Cunningham still owns the franchise record for career rushing with 5453 yards rushing with 43 TDs 
3. 3.     (Honorable Mention) Tony Collins – Third in franchise history with 4647 yards rushing and 32 TDs. Played on the Pats team that went to SB XX. 

BLOCKING BACK/3^rd DOWN BACK

1. 1.     Kevin Faulk – Faulk has done everything in his Patriots career, blocked in the backfield for the passing game, ran effectively as a RB and has been a consistent deadly option for Tom Brady out of the backfield.
2. 2.     Sam Gash – Gash was a crushing blocker as a FB, who could pick up valuable first downs in short yardage.
3. 3.     (Honorable Mention) Andy Johnson – Johnson was a fixture on the teams in the mid to late ‘70s, was a good runner, was an excellent pass catcher out of the backfield and could throw the occasional TD pass.

WIDE RECEIVER

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