ABOUT THIS BOOK

Since 2001 the Patriots have played in eight Super Bowl championships and won five, a run of excellence unparalleled in all of professional sports. In a league designed to ensure that no one franchise can dominate over time, New England won for over a decade and a half. A dynasty that began with an improbable run to a championship in 2001 has rebuilt, rebooted, and retooled several times over, winning most recently in 2017. But during those years, no other franchise reached the same level of controversy, drama, and turmoil—or even came close. Jerry Thornton, bestselling author of From Darkness to Dynasty, provides an all-access pass to the Patriots’ years of unparalleled greatness from the unique perspective of an observant, obsessive, utterly dedicated fan.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Jerry Thornton writes daily for Barstool Sports and co-hosts their NFL podcast, Laces Out. He’s a stand-up comic working clubs all over the Northeast and the author of From Darkness to Dynasty: The First 40 Years of the New England Patriots. Jerry is the former co-host of WEEI sports radio’s Dale and Holley with Thornton and NBC Sports Boston’s Patriots pregame show. He appears in HBO’s Emmy-winning Red Sox documentary Reverse the Curse of the Bambino as well as the Deflategate film Four Games in Fall. And you can catch him in the popular web video series Sh*t Pats Fans Say.

REVIEWS

“Jerry does not deny his Patriots fandom. His ability to take a step back and have a realistic, in-depth look at both the wins and losses is what sets him apart. This book will tell you why the Patriots are able to sustain success and also point out the few missteps over the last fifteen years. You don’t need to be a Patriots fan to enjoy Five Rings.”—AJ Hawk, Green Bay Packers, Super Bowl XLV champion

“Jerry’s passion for the Patriots, and his knack for capturing the story with both great detail and humor, make him the perfect person to capture the history of the organization in a way that has never been done before. From Boston to Foxboro, and from Boston to the Bay State to the New England Patriots, Jerry is bringing to life many of the tales that make the franchise one of the most compelling stories in all of sports—in a way that only he can.”—Mike Reiss, ESPN staff writer and coauthor with Troy Brown of Patriot Pride: My Life in the New England Dynasty

“As a Jets fan, the last fifteen-plus years have been a living hell, being in the shadow of the Patriots. It’s been a living hell not because of guys like Tom Brady or Bill Belichick, but because of guys like Jerry Thornton. Thornton is the quintessential Patriots fan, with the cockiness and swagger of an actual member of this dynasty. He has been talking trash and jamming it down my throat for almost two decades now, so I can’t imagine there is anybody better at embodying the unprecedented run this fan base has enjoyed over the course of eight Super Bowl appearances.”—Kevin “KFC” Clancy, Barstool Sports

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword • Introduction • Bears, Cheeseheads, and Tuna • I. ONE RING • Time Is a Flat Circle • Legs Twitching, Quietly Barking • Snow Bowl • Quarterback-Shaped Balloon Animal • That Calm Inner Plumbing • II. TWO RINGS • You Always Remember Your First • Finally, We Could Have Nice Things • Attitude Adjustment • Pond Scum Again • Schopenhauer on the Fifty • Superhorse • Legit • III. THREE RINGS • The Patriot Way • Last Season Meant Nothing • Chum in the Water • Flap Your Wings • IV. FOUR RINGS • One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest • Martyball • A Van Gogh Underneath • Your Team Cheats (or Asterisks Like Ninja Stars) • Any Day the Giants Lose (Is a Good Day) • Anger, with Sh*tloads of Fighting Back • Losers and Sore Losers • The Super Bowl That Shall Not Be Named II • A Tale of Two Tight Ends • “We’ll Take the Wind” • Chaos Theory • Maybe They Oughtta Study the Rule Book • Because Karma • Malcolm GO! • V. FIVE RINGS • Defend the Wall • Not Bitter • Like Some Teenage Goth Girl • 28–3 • You Can’t Always Get What You Want • Epilogue: The Luxury of Ordinary Losses • Acknowledgments • Index