Gillette Stadium opened in 2002, built adjacent to New England’s former joint Schaefer/Sullivan/Foxboro Stadium. That old place was a forgettable collection of metal bleachers, a testament to ownership that lacked money and stature. Yes, an NFL stadium was actually named after a discount (and now mostly discontinued) brand of beer.
The new place was the product of new ownership, a billionaire playing the NFL’s favorite game of pitting two different states against each other for sweetheart incentives. The Hartford Patriots (or something like it) was supposedly a real possibility.
Gillette was a palace built for royalty — luxury boxes and a giant lighthouse in one end zone.