Prelude To Kickoff: The Logo

Every sports logo comes with their own backstory, some more interesting than others.

Here’s one of them.

When the Patriots were founded over 50 years ago, Boston Globe cartoonist Phil Bissell was given a daily assignment.  He ended up creating a character that would become known as “Pat Patriot”, the first logo in the team’s history.

The assignment given to Bissell was simple: create an illustration of what you think the football team’s logo should be. Taking a Boston College lineman as inspiration, Bissell created a revolutionary minuteman in a Tricorner hat and Continental Army uniform.

Patriots founder Billy Sullivan fell in love with the logo, contacted the newspaper and worked out a deal to purchase the logo for a hundred dollars.

Bissell would end up creating game programs for five years with the Patriots, and the logo has returned in recent years, including today against the New York Jets.

These days, the Patriots’ main logo is better known as “The Flying Elvis”. This new design has its own story too.

In 1979, a earlier design of “The Flying Elvis” was created and fans were asked to vote at halftime on whether Pat Patriot would be replaced. The idea was voted down.

But in 1993, owner Robert Kraft did approve a logo switch to the current design, which is eerily similar to the original from decades ago.

According to Micéal Chamberlain — Patriots marketing director in 1979 — the original Elvis was conceived by NFL Properties with some fine tuning from Chamberlain himself. He speculates that when Kraft commissioned the logo change in 1993, NFL Properties might’ve just taken the materials from the original design and updated it.

As for Bissell, his logo spawned an identity for the football team that lasted half a century and has generated millions in merchandising. For all of that, he has $100 to show for it.

When he was asked whether he would’ve liked to have received more compensation for his efforts. He replied: “I certainly would. Wouldn’t you?”

photo via SI Vault

Posted on 21 October, 2012

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  5. applelol6 said: Love football it is one of my favorite sporrs
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