BOSTON — As the New England Patriots prepare for their eleventh Super Bowl game, one former player is remembering a time when the team looked very different.
"The Patriots drafted me in '61, when I graduated," John 'Butch' Mahoney remembered.
Quincy’s Butch Mahoney had already fought in the Korean War and graduated college when he picked up as a cornerback for the then Boston Patriots, who were barely existing in the fledgling American Football League.%
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"The total salary of the team was $400,000, if that, and it was not a big deal," Mahoney said.
His contract for the 1961 season was just $7,000, and the gear certainly didn’t compare to today's standards.
And when it comes to today’s quarterback, Mahoney says Tom Brady has certainly changed the game.
"He’s a good kid, and now he’s an old fart. Everybody’s talking about how old he is, well I’m twice his age, so I must be really old," Mahoney remarked. %
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But at 82, it’s still fun to dust off the old trophies and remember his time with the pats as he prepares to cheer them to victory on Sunday with his old helmet near the TV.
MORE: Will experience, and lack of it, be Super Bowl difference?
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