CHANDLER, Ariz. - And should the Patriots finish in a perfect manner to put an exclamation point on arguably the greatest season in American team sports history, just what should be done? Perhaps a bit of reflection on those days when the local gridiron team was far from perfect . . .
Home games at Fenway Park and Alumni Stadium, Nickerson Field and Harvard Stadium, even Birmingham, Ala. As for the coldest slab of cement mankind has known, the Patriots provided it.
Follies often outnumbered the wins and long gone, but not forgotten, are those tiresome day trips to play the New York Titans to save on hotel expenses. If they didn't use the beds, they got the day rate.
Comical is the memory of the fire in the BC stands, painful the remembrance of bathroom lines a half-mile long at Schaefer Stadium.
Ah, but the synchronized toilet-flush test at that brand-new stadium along Route 1? Now that was something else.
So, too, was the call to action in the 1969 opener, one answered by Bob Gladieux. He put down his beer, climbed out of the stands, slipped into uniform, and made the tackle on the opening kickoff after John Charles had been cut by ownership in the locker room prior to the start of the game. Who needs waiver wires when you can wave to a guy 15 rows up?
Ownership? That serves as a reminder to offer a toast to Billy, Pat, and Chuck - the Sullivans to whom a debt of gratitude is eternally owed.
If it is true that you must take the bad with the good, then today's excess of football riches is a reward for those long, cold seasons of 1967-70 (combined 13-42-1), 1972 (3-11), 1975 (3-11), 1981 (2-14), 1992 (2-14), and the pits of them all, 1990 (1-15).
Clive Rush, who was almost electrocuted as he grabbed the podium microphone the day he was announced as coach? All is forgiven. And the same goes for John Mazur, Phil Bengston, and Rod Rust.
But not you, Chuck Fairbanks. Shame on you.
Forever was Reggie Dupard's turf toe, inspirational Steve Nelson's play, dynamic Mack Herron's style, overpowering John Hannah's forward thrust, and clutch Mark Henderson's snow-plow driving.
Games in Denver were always a lost cause, or so it seemed, and the number next to the 1963 AFL Championship (10, proving no match for San Diego's 51) still stings.
For more than 30 years the Patriots' citizenry deserved an apology from referee Ben Dreith, whose roughing-the-passer call against Ray Hamilton in the 1976 playoffs may not have been the worst call ever, but surely is in the top two.
Which reminds us, you were something special, Sugar Bear, and that goes for you, too, Julius Adams.
As for memorable others, the list will overlook a name or two, so accept an apology in advance as we offer a round of applause for players who weren't perfect, just great to watch: Jimmy Colclough, Babe Parilli, Bob Dee, Tom Addison, Larry Garron, Ron Burton, Nick Buoniconti, Larry Eisenhauer, Art Graham, Jim Nance, Jim Whalen, Houston Antwine, Jim Cheyunski, Tommy Neville, Jim Lee Hunt, Lennie St. Jean, Jim Plunkett, Bill Lenkaitis, Steve Grogan, Russ Francis, Steve Kiner, Steve Zabel, Carl Garrett, Randy Vataha, Andy Johnson, John Smith, Leon Gray, Sam Hunt, Mike Haynes, Todd Collins, Sam Cunningham, Tim Fox, Stanley Morgan, Raymond Clayborn, Mosi Tatupu, Andre Tippett, Don Blackmon, Johnny Rembert, Pete Brock, Ben Coates, Bruce Armstrong, Irving Fryar, Dave Meggett, Willie McGinest, Drew Bledsoe, and Ty Law.
And, of course, the man who has been around since the start - the great Gino Cappelletti.
It was startling to turn on the TV and have some guy scream at you as he waved a razor, "Hi, I'm Victor Kiam." Disconcerting even more to tell friends he was at the helm of your local NFL entry.
Surely, few will remember Marty Schottenheimer's interception in 1969, but is there any real Patriots fan who forgets the fury with which linebacker Clayton Weishuhn played?
There were gaps of 12 years (between playoff games) and 22 (between championship games) and a fan's passion was tested mightily in those times, but oh, how the people passed the test.
It was a knee injury that halted Phil Olsen's Patriots career before it started.
It was an attitude problem that ended Duane Thomas's, as he came, he saw, he snarled, and he returned to Dallas to help the Cowboys win a Super Bowl.
Joe Kapp was a one-year move that didn't work out, Butch Songin a two-year stint that made Walpole proud.
There were players who stopped in briefly, but long enough to somehow, someway stick in the memory banks, guys like Jack Mildren, Fred Steinfort, Mark van Eeghen, Greg McMurtry, Marion Butts, Dennis Byrd, Bob Cappadona, Chuck Foreman, and Ivy Joe Hunter.
Darryl Stingley is hard to forget, and the same goes for Bucko Kilroy.
And so far as any Super Bowl gathering goes that involves the Patriots, it is impossible not to conjure up memories of a colleague who was unmatched. Will McDonough knew things before everyone else and saw things no one else saw, but would he ever have guessed that this franchise would someday be closing in on perfection?
The pick
New England (-12) vs. NY Giants - Assuming Michael Strahan has stopped talking and spectators have mustered the courage to walk into what appears to be a monstrous spaceship dropped amid desert and cacti . . . firm in their belief that Miss Nevada and the Playboy "Bartender of the Year" have met their obligations and left the premises to purchase clothing that they desperately were in need of . . . figuring that fans have by now determined that it requires an overnight stay to get from Phoenix to Scottsdale . . . convinced that the 11,571 former NFL players sent via
Championship weekend: 0-2.
Season: 115-135-8.
