Five Rings: The Super Bowl History of the New England Patriots

by Jerry Thornton

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.

Genres: Sports

360 pages, Hardcover

Published September 4, 2018

Reviews

[Matt DiGennaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jerry’s latest book is entertaining, personal, and enlightening. Having lived through the history, it was more a recap than a unique new look. I still enjoyed it, and as more distance is put between us and the dynasty the book will become even more essential to football enthusiasts. I wish there had been more insider info, and a few comments went unexplained (i.e. at one point he references the Texans “letterman jacket game” but doesn’t explain what that mean. I know because I was there, but someone learning for the first time won’t get the joke), but overall a great read.

[Peter McGinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are a New England Patriots fan you will enjoy this book. The author makes no bones about the fact that he is an unabashed fanatic and his reporting tilts in the team’s favor. Perhaps that is just as well, because the league and the world of NFL fans do seem to be angrily against the team as they have never been any other dynasty in any sport.

But setting that aside, if you are a fan, you should find this to be entertaining and humorous. I skimmed a bit in a few places but I am glad I read it, as I was only a casual fan and didn’t know the ins and outs of some of the supposed scandals the rapid Patriot haters tried to exploit.