Phil Bissell, Mass. native who created ‘Pat Patriot’ logo, has died

Phil Bissell, the creator of the New England Patriots ‘Pat Patriot’ has died, the team announced Thursday.

Bissell was a cartoonist for the Boston Globe when he first drew the hulking revolutionary war solider hiking a football, according to the Patriots Hall of Fame. The Massachusetts native continued to create game day program covers for the team throughout the 1960′s.

“I get zilch from them,” Bissett told The Athletic’s Steve Buckley in 2020. “But I’ll say it again: Pat’s my number three son. And he’ll always be young. He’ll always be a nice guy that everybody remembers.”

Bissell’s portrait of hard-nosed gritty football graced the Patriots’ helmets from 1961 to 1992 before the franchise changed to the ‘Flying Elvis’ logo still in use today. But Bissell’s creation has lived on in throwback uniforms, ball caps, hoodies and other gear throughout New England ever since.

“I have a picture, it was done some time ago, of Tom Brady, and Brady had the old uniform on and he had my Pat on the helmet,” Bissell described to The Athletic. “To me, I like the picture because it’s Brady and with my little buddy on the helmet.”

According to Bissett, he drew the logo in the Globe and was unaware that Jerry Nason, the Globe’s sports editor, gave the logo to then-Patriots owner Billy Sullivan. He would eventually get paid $100 for the work.

The Patriots have brought back classic Pat and his matching red uniforms for two games in each of the last two seasons after not donning them since 2012. In 2013, the NFL enacted a new rule that forbade teams from changing their helmet shells mid-season. They amended the rule in 2022.

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