An NFL champion headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island? Sounds ridiculous…until you look at a map.
Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots, is 24 miles from downtown Providence. It is 28 miles from Boston Common. When the national press travels to Patriots games, we are stationed in Providence, not Boston. The Patriots are as much Providence's team as Boston's team, and the city of Providence hosted NFL champions long before Tom Brady and Bill Belichick showed up in New England.
Back in 1928, when the Providence Steam Roller gave the region its first pro football championship, the thought of naming a team after a five-state region was preposterous.