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1960 First Ever AFL Game Buffalo Bills vs. Boston Patriots Program Signed by Phil Bissell
Displayed is an extremely rare program from the first game in the history of the American Football League, a July 30, 1960, preseason game at Buffalo's War Memorial Stadium between the Boston Patriots and the home team Buffalo Bills. The program cover is signed and inscribed by former Boston Globe cartoonist Phil Bissell, whose creation, "Pat Patriot," (a Revolutionary War patriot, in a stance and about to snap the football) became the Patriots logo. The Patriots won this opening contest, 28-7, a game played before 16,474 fans. The star of the game was Boston quarterback Butch Songin, who threw two touchdowns passes. When the Patriots were preparing to play in Boston in the AFL's first season, then-Patriots owner Billy Sullivan saw a "Pat Patriot" cartoon that Bissell had drawn in The Boston Globe. Sullivan contacted Bissell and arranged for Pat Patriot to become the Patriots' logo. The program measures 7.75x10.6" and contains 24 pages. The program includes Gino Cappelletti (in the program listed as a defensive back), who was one of only three AFL players to play in every game of the league's ten-year existence (before merging with the NFL), and Cappelletti, who switched from a defensive back to become a wide receiver late in that inaugural season, was the AFL MVP in 1964, and wound up as the AFL's all-time leading scorer, with 1,100 points. Bissell signed and inscribed the cover of the program using a blue ballpoint pen. He neatly and clearly wrote, "My First Pat Cover! Phil Bissell." The program exhibits some creasing, light toning, and a tiny paper tear, but is in overall very good condition. The now New England Patriots, the Buffalo Bills, and the other original AFL teams now in the NFL will be in their 75th season of professional football in 2024, and this program, from the league's first game, is a wonderful, vintage remembrance of that time when the AFL came alive, and when the Patriots represented Boston, long before they would become the New England Patriots and win an all-time record-tying six Super Bowls. The program also showcases the signature of artist Phil Bissell and the first appearance of the now iconic Patriot logo on a football program cover.
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