Pats fans dream of end to suffering

Patriots fans have been through the mill for their team

A Massachusetts native and long-suffering Patriots' supporter, BBC Sport Online's Kevin Asseo looks back on the dismal history of New England's NFL franchise.

Growing up outside Boston, Massachusetts, throughout the 1970s and '80s, being a fanatical supporter of the local teams was not really a choice, it was more like a duty.

Most of the Boston sides were rooted deeply in the traditions of their respective sports and becoming attached to them was unavoidable.

Baseball's Boston Red Sox, basketball's Celtics, and ice hockey's Bruins always seemed to be at or near the top of their leagues and all had their share of proud history and legendary players.

Then, of course, there was the ugly sister of the New England pro teams, the Patriots.

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The Pats seemed to make up for the other New England teams' abundance of rich history with a conspicuous lack of their own.

Name the best players in the Red Sox, Celtic or Bruin history and you will find some of the greatest names in American sport - Ted Williams, Larry Bird, or Bobby Orr, for example.

But who comes to mind when thinking of the Patriots' greatest player? John Hannah, an offensive lineman, the most anonymous member of a football team.

The saddest part is that there is not even a close second to Hannah.

Inevitably, any Patriot player bound for greatness left the team and made his mark elsewhere.

There are no Joe Montanas or Walter Paytons with their jerseys hanging in New England.

Just Hannah and guys like Jim Lee Hunt and Gino Capelleti - not exactly immortals.

Addictive

Complementing the team's dearth of individual stars was the performance of the team as a whole.

From 1960-85, the first 25 years of the Patriots' existence, the franchise won a grand total of one post-season game.

Strange as it seems, those factors combined to make rooting for the Patriots even more addictive.

I knew that the end of this misery would come somehow, and when it did, it would be sweet.

It finally happened during the magical season of 1985, when the Pats made an incredible Cinderella play-off run to reach Super Bowl XX.

As a high school student in Massachusetts at the time, I was on cloud nine for the entire two weeks preceding the big game.

I should never have allowed myself to entertain thoughts of a championship.

These were the Pats, after all, and something bad was bound to happen.

And happen it did.

New England were humiliated in the Super Bowl, beaten 46-10 by the great Chicago Bears in a game that was even more lopsided than the score indicates.

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It was reasonable to hope that the 1985 season was the start of a golden era, but it was not to be.

The Patriots would only make the post-season twice in the next 10 seasons, and would lose in the first round both times.

Another Super Bowl run came in the 1996 season, but so did another Super Bowl disappointment, this time a loss to the Green Bay Packers.

And now, here they are again.

In a season that began with the suspension of the team's star receiver, Terry Glenn, and a serious injury to $100m quarterback Drew Bledsoe, the Pats are back in the Super Bowl.

It has been a dream season for New England fans, and all we can hope for is that it does not end with the familiar nightmare of a Super Bowl defeat.

Maybe, just maybe, the Patriots will put the past behind them and come home with their very first NFL championship.