From Community Advocate: Shots heard ’round Gillette
Region – History runs deep in New Englanders who proudly recall the significant role that Massachusetts played in history – from the Boston Tea Party protest against taxation in 1773 to the Minutemen who started the American Revolution by battling British troops at Lexington and Concord in 1775.
Nearly every Sunday during football season, the New England Patriots, clothed in red, white and blue, set out to defend their turf, but they do not do so alone.
While the Patriots take to the field, a group of 10 re-enactors dressed as Revolutionary Minutemen line each end zone. The End Zone Militia (EZM), as they are known, provide a living history of New England’s rich heritage. Each member of the EZM dresses to depict an individual from a different occupation: doctors, cobblers, carpenters, farmers and blacksmiths. Each carries a reproduction flintlock musket loaded with real black gunpowder. When the Patriots take the field, the EZM fires a salute. Every time the Patriots score, another salute is fired. When the game is over, and if the Patriots have won, the EZM fires a congratulatory volley. The barrage of gunfire creates a smoke show that is met with enthusiasm from fans.
Local EZM members include: Bob Elliott and Steve Miller from Southborough; Bill Gundling from Westborough; and Bryon Bausk, Kevin Collins and Dan Higgins from Marlborough.
Other members of the EZM hail from Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and other towns on the North and South shores of Massachusetts. EZM members come from different walks of life, but all have two traits in common – a love of history and the New England Patriots. All participate in re-enactments, historical events, parades, and educational activities outside of their EZM roles.
The EZM merges New England history and football. Named by Pete Brock, a former center for the New England Patriots, the EZM carry the spirit of the past into the present.
Militia members do not get paid, and they purchase their own authentic 18th-century costumes and gunpowder.
Elliott, a member of the Lexington Minutemen, as well as the EZM, recalled memorable games braving the cold at Gillette Stadium. He was there during the coldest home game ever played, when the Patriots held off the Tennessee Titans, 17-14, on a 46-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri in the final minutes of the game. It was January 2004 and the temperature was 3 degrees. In the end zone, while frozen snow covered Elliott’s beard, he remembers looking up at the fans bundled in parkas and heavy blankets who never lost their enthusiasm despite the temperature.
Another militia member has his own cold-weather memories.
“There are games,” said Miller, “when the sodas in the cooler keep our hands warm against the frigid New England temperatures.”
Another game of note took place Jan. 19, 2002. Wearing two pairs of long underwear beneath his Colonial garb with warmers in both his hands and his feet, Elliott recalled snowballs from the stands filling the air as the Patriots beat the Oakland Raiders in overtime – during a blizzard. The Snow Bowl, as it was later called, is remembered by Elliott as the snowiest game he has ever attended at Gillette.
“The Patriots [playing at home] and snow seem to be a winning combination,” quipped Elliott, who is more than happy to brave the elements in the end zone. The EZM probably play a part of the Patriots’ home-field advantage as well.
The presence of the group is an element of home games that the players have come to love and appreciate. According to Elliott, ex-players such as Randy Moss make it a point to stop and visit with the EZM when they are in town. The living history that the EZM bring to the field is not lost on competing opponents. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, he added, is one of the many players who have come to greet him and his fellow EZM after a game and shake their hands.
The group began in 1996 with their debut on the sideline of the New England Revolution. Just a year later, in 1997, the New England Patriots invited them to come to Schaefer/Foxboro Stadium. At the time, there was room for only six militiamen in the end zone.
The EZM participate in many Patriots charitable fundraisers. They have also been asked to conduct Honor Guard at Boston Red Sox games. They’ve even been featured in commercials, including one for Visa and another for Olympia Sports.
Elliott was one of the members who attended the Matt Light Annual Shoot-Out, where they entertained attendees by shooting clay pigeons with their muskets.
The group has no official affiliation with the New England Patriots or Gillette Stadium.
