After an 11-minute icing, Vinatieri nailed the field goal. What Kraft and Parcells are too gentlemanly to say about their franchise is that years of mismanagement have kept the team in its quagmire. The two men who immediately preceded Parcells, Rod Rust and the miscast Dick MacPherson, were 9-39 between them. The Kraft-Parcells team apparently has helped the franchise turn a corner. The Patriots have sold out every game in the past three seasons after their attendance average dipped below 40,000 from 1990 through 1992.
Negotiations are ongoing on a new stadium.
The past is the past. Despite the current love affair between New England and the Patriots, there is the potential for more chaos. Parcells and Kraft aren't getting along, and Patriots insiders say Parcells' departure is imminent after the Super Bowl. No matter how the current soap opera plays out, New England fans are hard to shock. All rights reserved.