Squish the Fish: Part 2
Billy Sullivan and his Patriots
January 12 is the 40th Anniversary of the New England Patriots victory over the Miami Dolphins in the 1985 AFC Championship Game. This is part two of a three-part series.
Owner Billy Sullivan was all smiles at a rally held for the New England Patriots at Boston City Hall on Wednesday, January 8, 1986, but storm clouds were on the horizon.1
That Monday, Boston Globe reporter Ron Borges, following up on rumors that several members of the Patriots had attended a drug-fueled party after their loss to Miami in December, sought out head coach Raymond Berry for a private conversation. Berry refused to go on the record but confirmed that as many as a dozen players were suspected drug users. Borges would not reveal this in the Globe until Berry went on the record the day after the Super Bowl, sparking a media firestorm and suspicion of a cover-up.2
Early Wednesday morning, the Patriots’ electric receiver & punt returner Irving Fryar had turned up in Foxboro with a sliced tendon on his right hand that would cause him to miss the AFC Championship Game. After originally blaming the injury on a kitchen accident, the true story emerged later in the week: Fryar had argued with his pregnant wife Jacqueline inside a South Shore restaurant and the confrontation turned physical after they headed out to the establishment’s parking lot. Fryar knocked his wife to the ground, and she had slashed at him with a knife.3
Meanwhile, it was publicly known that Sullivan was planning to sell the team, as he was facing financial trouble on two fronts: Three lawsuits by former stockholders were making their way through the courts (claiming they had been short-changed when they were bought out by the Sullivan family in 1976) and the continuing fallout from an ill-fated decision by his son Chuck, who had lost $20 million investing in Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” tour.4
The beleaguered owner’s other son, Patrick, the Patriots’ general manager, had been in the news all week because of his on-field altercation with Raiders’ linebacker Matt Millen after New England’s victory in Los Angeles. The younger Sullivan had spent the game on the Patriots’ sideline yelling taunts at Millen, Howie Long, and their teammates across the way.
After the Patriots wrapped up their 27-20 victory, and both teams spilled onto the field to head to their respective locker rooms, Millen smacked Sullivan on the head with his helmet, drawing blood.5 Sullivan was publicly contrite a few days later, and decided to sit in the stands for the AFC Championship Game.6
All of this was weighing on Billy Sullivan’s mind when he sat down with WCVB-TV Channel 5’s Clark Booth for an interview to be aired during a 60-minute prime time preview special the night before the game. Most of the broadcast was full of optimism and pro-Patriot fluff, but the interview with the owner was decidedly different in tone.7
Sullivan, sitting behind his desk in a tan suit with red tie and matching pocket square, was downright melancholy, resigned to being maligned in the press but upset by the negative coverage of his family. He defended Chuck’s honor, describing the “Thriller” fiasco as “a mistake in judgement,” before adding, “but we’ve all made them. I understand them better than most [people] ‘cause I’ve probably made more than most.” His justification for Patrick’s behavior was equally personal, linked to perceived slights perpetrated by Raiders’ owner Al Davis:
“I’m afraid that I’m not the total Christian, because I don’t think I can always turn the other cheek. And I also don’t think I’m a total Catholic, because I don’t hate anyone but I do have somewhat of a dislike for that fellow [Davis] out there. For what he’s done to our family. I guess there wouldn’t be much Irish in us if we didn’t respond. Maybe we didn’t respond the right way, but I just can’t continue to be, to have my family used as a punching bag and do business as normal. I can’t do it. I can’t change.”
But all of those feelings were temporarily on the back burner. On Sunday, Billy Sullivan’s Patriots would get their chance to advance to their first Super Bowl in team history.
Photo from the Patriots’ Rally from City of Boston Archives, https://www.flickr.com/photos/cityofbostonarchives/10086206993/in/set-72157635053675857/, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Ron Borges, “Drug problem is disclosed by Patriots; dozen involved,” Boston Globe, January 28, 1986; Robert L. Kierstead, “Handling the Patriots’ drug story,” Boston Globe, February 4, 1986 (ombudsman article).
Ron Borges, “Fryar injured in fight with wife,” Boston Globe, January 11, 1986.
Will McDonough, “Does it pay to win?” Boston Globe, January 9, 1986; “Billy Sullivan Chronology,” Boston Globe, February 24, 1998. Chuck Sullivan ran the company that owned Sullivan Stadium.
Leigh Montville, “On field and off, when Patriots meet Raiders, it’s a brawl,” Boston Globe, January 6, 1986.
Michael Madden, “Pat Sullivan to sit it out,” Boston Globe, January 10, 1986.
The Channel 5 preview special video is available on YouTube along with a copy of the entire AFC Championship Game, which I watched while researching this post.