The framed poster hangs on the left sidewall as you enter the home radio booth at Gillette Stadium, where for 10 seasons here and another 18 at the old stadium next door, the two men pictured behind the glass filled New England’s autumn air with their words and, often, laughter.
The play-by-player whose rich baritone pipes produced the perfect pitch for the game he called stands to the left. On the right, in the light-gray sport coat with the stylish peak lapels is the ex-player whose well-versed analysis reflected his well-rounded experiences on the field. Each holds a microphone and wears a smile in this black-and-white image from younger days.
Inset is a smaller, more recent photo in full color. Their look is more practical, they are dressed for the cold. The longtime radio pro, by now a few pounds heavier from the waist up, has a Christmas-patterned scarf draped over his shoulders. His partner, the former playing great wears a jacket bearing the modern-day team logo, still seemingly as fit as when he suited up a half century earlier, as an original franchise icon.
Gil and Gino.
Surnames unnecessary.
The Voice of the Patriots. And Mr. Patriot.
You can see in these pictures what generations could hear on their radios, best described by Gino Cappelletti as “a simpatico” formed over nearly 500 broadcasts and just as many pre-game dinners together.
Yes, simpatico. The perfect word to describe the perfect radio marriage. Spoken by the perfect Patriot.
Agreeable. Likable…no, lovable.
Booming paired with charming. Sound and style generations grew up on.
First, in the early-to-mid-seventies, on AM 1030. Later on 104.1 FM, formerly known as WBCN, the rock station as legendary as them. Finally, further up the dial at 98.5, where they called their last full game together in their sixth Super Bowl together on Feb. 5, 2012, for the Sports Hub.
From 3-11 under John Mazur to 11-3 under Chuck Fairbanks; from Ben Dreith to Walt Coleman; from the last television blackout on the final Sunday of 1993 to the halcyon days of the early aughts, including, most famously, boisterously and joyously, the final snap of Super Bowl XXXVI.
Late last week, we lost Gino at age 89, four years after Gil Santos passed away on his 80th birthday in April 2018. This week, following numerous on-air, on-line and in-print tributes, family and friends will pay their formal respects to Cappelletti, one of the most beloved people in New England sports history.
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“My heart aches,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft said last Thursday in a statement that alluded to his days as an original Pats ticket holder, reasserted his conviction that Cappelletti belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and extended condolences to Gino’s wife Sandy, daughters Gina, Cara and Christina and 10 grandchildren. “As great of a player as he was, he was an even better person and storyteller.”
Kraft spoke for his family and organization. And just about anyone else ever lucky enough to be in Cappelletti’s company. Listen to others who knew Gino well, and you’ll hear the same.
“Just a wonderful man in every way,” texted longtime Patriots Radio Network producer Marc Cappello, a part of the team’s broadcast operations since 1995.
“His stories on the road were legendary,” tweeted Scott Zolak, who succeeded Cappelletti, both in the broadcast booth and, in his own way, about town as a team ambassador.
The story of Cappelletti and his road to becoming legendary border on the mythological.
Native to northern Minnesota’s Iron Range, Gino was a quarterback in the University of Minnesota’s run-heavy, split T formation. Though the Detroit Lions gave him a look in 1955, he had to cross the Canadian border to keep playing — initially joining the Sarnia Imperials of the Ontario Rugby Football Union.
He started a second season in the ORFU, with Toronto, but Uncle Sam summoned Cappelletti for service in the Army. He returned to Canada, signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and was traded and cut by the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who already employed American quarterback Frank Tripucka.
Gil Santos (left) and Gino Cappelletti. (Courtesy of the New England Patriots)
Back in Minnesota and tending bar in the Twin Cities, Gino learned that Lou Saban, head coach of the Boston franchise in the start-up American Football League was scouting players nearby. College teammate Bob McNamara passed along Saban’s number and Gino gave him a call.
“I introduced myself,” Cappelletti recounted to reporter Hank Gola of the New York Daily News in 2014. “I said, ‘I don’t have a glamorous career but I love the game and can play. I would love to have a tryout.’
“I never heard back from him and I was really getting concerned and I thought, ‘Maybe it was not meant to be, that I’m not going to have a career in the game.’ And sure enough, one evening the phone rang.”
It was Saban. He notified Gino that a contract worth $7,500 was on the way.
Cappelletti, who converted 31 straight extra-point tries as a collegiate kicker in 1953-54, would continue in that role under Saban. He’d also be used at safety on defense.
Opening night was on Sept. 9, 1960 — a Friday not in conflict with Saturday’s college schedule and Sunday’s NFL slate. The opponent was Denver. It’s quarterback was Frank Tripucka. After the Broncos punted on the AFL’s opening possession, Gino lined up to attempt a 35-yard field goal before 21,597 at Nickerson Field. His kick was good. More history was made.
Cappelletti enjoyed his best defensive performance in mid-October, picking off three passes at Oakland. In all, Raiders quarterbacks Tom Flores and Babe Parilli were intercepted five times. Gino ended the year with one more interception.
The next season, he moved to offense, switching to receiver, and the Pats added a new quarterback, trading for Parilli. Collectively, they became known as the ‘Grand Opera.’ Meanwhile, Parilli earned a second nickname as Cappelletti’s holder on placements: ‘Golden Finger.’
Gino rarely missed kicks and never missed a game.
He honed his approach, according to the UPI’s Steve Snyder, after watching Arnold Palmer hit golf shots. Head down, eyes on the ball, swing swiftly following through.
“I stole that formula from (Arnold) Palmer and applied it to my placekicking,” Cappelletti told Snyder in 1966. “I got the idea watching him on television.”
Gino Gappelletti kicks a field goal for the New England Patriots (Courtesy of the New England Patriots)
By the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, Gino was a five-time all-star and five-time scoring leader. He earned one title as league MVP in 1964 and another only after catching two long touchdown passes from Parilli, to go with four field goals and two PATs, in the 1965 finale.
No one in AFL history produced more points. And only two others, George Blanda and Jim Otto, appeared in all of their team’s games from the AFL’s inception to its union with the NFL.
Eleven years after finally finding his footing in New England, Cappelletti’s playing career ended on the doorstep of the 1971 campaign.
“Whatever I’ve contributed to football will never equal what the game has given me,” he said in his retirement press conference, as reported by the Boston Globe’s Leigh Montville. “I’ve had my day and now I’ve got to get on with the rest of my life.”
Gino did so for 28 of the remaining 51 years alongside Gil on fall Sundays. He also spent a few seasons on Ron Erhardt’s coaching staff.
In 1991, after a period in which games aired on several stations featuring other announcers, Gil and Gino reunited in the Pats booth. Four years later, they welcomed Cappello and Dennis Knudsen, now the director of engineering at 98.5 The Sports Hub, to their crew.
Gino Gappelletti with the New England Patriots (Courtesy of the New England Patriots)
Like Zolak, Cappello and Knudsen were entertained by Gino’s anecdotes and touched by his wisdom and warmth. Both recall how former Patriots coach Pete Carroll frequently visited with Cappelletti on team flights to and from road games.
“I was a huge fan of Gino the player and broadcaster,” Carroll wrote in a text message relayed last weekend through the Seattle Seahawks media relations department. “He was a special person and a true Patriot legend. He always represented the organization with such dignity. My thoughts are with all Patriot fans who were connected by him.”
Carroll’s words are consistent with the sentiments Bill Belichick expressed in July 2012, after Cappelletti retired from broadcasting.
“Around the team, [Gino] wasn’t just a broadcaster but was – and remains – truly part of the team, respected by players and coaches for representing everything good about sports,” Belichick stated. “Gino is a class act, one of the true gentlemen of the AFL and NFL and I am proud to have been associated with him every week of my career as Patriots head coach.”
Meanwhile, Gil, the man most closely associated with Gino — then, now, always — stayed on the air for one more season before joining Cappelletti in red-jacketed immortality as a fellow Patriot Hall of Famer.
Gino Gappelletti at a Patriots Hall of Fame induction. (Courtesy of the New England Patriots)
In 2012, Santos described the Patriots’ first 15 games with Zolak at his side. For the 16th, the regular-season finale vs. Miami on Dec. 30, they saved a chair for Gino.
Today that seat is no longer occupied by the first and last Patriot in jersey No. 20.
Still, he and his longtime pal and partner will always be in the booth.
Seen in the aforementioned poster, a reproduction of the cover of the Patriots souvenir program for their last game together. Heard, as their unforgettable calls echo in memory.
And thanks to their legacy, felt, as if they’re looking down from high above the field.
You can hear Bob Socci on the call of the game on every game day for the New England Patriots, right here on 98.5 The Sports Hub. You can also read his Socci’s Notebook stories periodically throughout the year.
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7 takeaways from the Patriots' 2022 schedule release
Difficult late season stretch
Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots looks on from the side line during the second half of the game against the Tennessee Titans at Gillette Stadium on November 28, 2021 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
The Patriots’ 2021 season was defined by lack of success down the stretch, as the team lost four of its five games after the bye. As they look to finish strong in 2022, the schedule doesn’t do them any favors.
For a five week stretch between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the Patriots play four primetime games – two Thursday night games at Minnesota and at home against the Bills (the first back-to-back Thursday games in franchise history), followed by a Monday night game in Arizona then a Sunday night game in Las Vegas. They then have a short week before returning home to take on the Bengals on Christmas Eve day on Saturday. (The Patriots are tied with the Eagles for the most short weeks this season with five.)
There’s a lot to break down here, but what really jumps out is the lack of consistency. Athletes, like most people, enjoy and may even rely on their routines. However, with the game dates jumping all over the place it will be tough to build up any habbits through this stretch – which is just one week removed from the bye. While that’s not a reason in itself the team should struggle, it’s yet another element to deal with late in the year.
Adding to the lack of routine during that stretch is the likely week-long trip to the southwest. ESPN’s Mike Reiss suggested the Patriots could stay out west between the Cardinals and Raiders game, holding practices on location. It’s something the team has done before, most recently between LA games in 2020.
Even after this stretch, the Patriots’ schedule doesn’t get any easier to close things out. Their final two games see them take on the Dolphins in Week 17 then travel to Buffalo in Week 18.
Backloaded divisional games
Just good-old-fashioned hard running by Stevenson. Seventy-eight yards on 24 carries doesn’t look good on paper, but in a game like this, yardage wasn’t necessarily as important as ball security. Stevenson, of course, didn’t fumble in his 24 touches. He aced the eye test, muscling his way through a sea of defenders on a number of carries. The Patriots leaned on the rookie hard, and he did his job.
As mentioned above, the Patriots don’t play their final two divisional games of the year until the final two weeks of the season. That’s just the beginning of what is a backloaded in-division schedule.
After visiting Miami in Week 1, the Patriots don’t play another AFC East team until Oct. 30, when they travel to New Jersey for a Week 8 game against the Jets. They won’t host a divisional game until Week 11, when they face the Jets again. Six of their eight AFC East games, including all three home games, come after the bye in the final eight weeks of the season.
In a division that’s supposed to be tighter than usual this year, the divisional games may hold some extra weight in 2022. So does it benefit the Patriots to have them all crammed in at the end of the schedule? On one hand, the team themselves should be clicking better and have a stronger identity at that point. At the same time, that can also be said about their opponents, and the intensity levels of those games will be heightened with the increased stakes.
Ideal bye week
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – DECEMBER 28: A general view of Gillette Stadium before the game between the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots on December 28, 2020 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Getty Images)
Last season’s Week 14 bye wasn’t just tied for the latest in the NFL that season, but the latest in league history. Many pointed to the late week off as a possible catalyst for the team’s issues down the stretch.
This year, the bye week placement is much kinder. In the team’s official schedule release video, long-time staffer Ernie Adams described Week 10 as “about perfect placement for the bye.”
The Patriots also have a much softer landing coming out of their week off this time around. Last year, they went on the road to play a red-hot Colts team. In 2022, they’ll be at home taking on the Jets – before beginning the primetime stretch described above.
Trap game?
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 31: Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots reacts in the third quarter against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium on October 31, 2021 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
It’s part of the tradition that comes with the schedule release – identifying potential trap games. This year doesn’t have the obvious candidates the last two schedules did, but there are two games that may fit the description.
The first is Week 5 against Detroit. For the Patriots, it’s the lone home game in a three-week span, sandwiched between two road games that could feature elite quarterbacks on the other side in the Packers (Aaron Rodgers) and Browns (Deshaun Watson). For the Lions franchise, this may be viewed as somewhat of a revenge game as they face former head coach Matt Patricia for the first time.
Week 11 against the Jets also fits the mold. The Patriots will be coming off a bye week, and heading into the toughest stretch of their schedule. By the definition of a trap game, this is one to keep an eye on.
Best road trip
Lambeau Field at sunset on Aug. 14, 2021, in Green Bay, Wis. (Sarah Kloepping/USA Today Network-Wisconsin via Imagn Content Services)
For fans looking to see the Patriots on the road, there are two clear contenders for best road trip – although they involve two very different destinations.
This year will be the Patriots’ first ever trip to Las Vegas. There will actually be two chances to see the team out there, both in the preseason/joint practices, and the Week 15 Sunday Night Football matchup. If anyone is feeling adventurous enough to take the whole week off, it could turn into a full trip in the desert with the Patriots playing in Arizona the week before.
The other trip many have circled is Week 4 in Green Bay. Seeing a game at Lambeau Field is on many football fans’ bucket lists, and the Patriots only play there once every eight years. A 4:25 early-autumn tailgate in Green Bay – now that’s football.
Return of the red?
DETROIT – NOVEMBER 25: Devin McCourty #32 of the New England Patriots celebrates his interception with teammates Brandon Meriweather #31 and Jermaine Cunningham #96 during the fourth quarter of the game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on November 25, 2010 in Detroit, Michigan. New England defeated Detroit 45-24. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
Although it hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, there’s been a number of breadcrumbs over the last year suggesting the Patriots will bring back their throwback red ‘Pat Patriot’ uniforms in 2022. NFL teams sometimes link uniform announcements to the schedule release – will the Patriots do the same?
Now that the schedule is here, it may be easier to identify which games would make sense for the throwbacks. Primetime games are also prime marketing opportunities for new apparel, so the Week 7 Monday Night game against the Bears and Week 13 Thursday Night game against the Bills would both make sense.
Week 11 against the Jets after the bye against is also a game to watch here. The last two times the Patriots wore red in 2011 and 2012 came against the Jets.
Some have suggested the look could return in Week 12, following the tradition of throwbacks on Thanksgiving. However, the Vikings are the home team and their purple may be too close to the red. For it to happen, Minnesota would have to choose to wear white at home, which they haven’t done since 1964. All that being said, the Patriots could also bring back the all-white throwback look they’ve worn just once (2009) since 1989.
New-look preseason
Mar 2, 2022; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels talks to the media during the 2022 NFL Combine. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
In addition to their full regular season schedule, the Patriots also announced their three preseason opponents. This year’s preseason schedule looks very different from what fans have become accustomed to in recent history.
The biggest change is that for the first time since 2004, the Patriots are not schedule to play their preseason finale against the New York Giants. Instead, the Giants will come to Foxborough for the first of the three preseason games. That one will be followed by a game against the Carolina Panthers, which is expected to be accompanied by joint practices.
In their final and lone road preseason game, the Patriots will head to Las Vegas for joint practices (per Reiss) and the preseason finale against the Raiders. This is a departure from the norm for two reasons. First, teams usually schedule preseason games with opponents within close proximity to cut down on travel. It’s also rare for regular season opponents to play in the preseason, which will be the case here. However, the ability to work with a familiar program run by a familiar face in Josh McDaniels may have been too good of an opportunity to pass up.
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