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Patriot Origins

Before Deflategate, when the AFL's Boston Patriots moved to Foxborough in 1971, team owner Billy Sullivan wanted a new name to go with the new location. He eventually came up with the Bay State Patriots, to honor the entire region. The name lasted a month, as the NFL evidently didn’t appreciate what the initials of the team’s new name would spell. (Think about it.) From then on, it was the New England Patriots.