FOXBORO, Mass. – The New England Patriots lived up to their name — and then some – on Saturday when they became the first home away from home for a tribute to football’s noblest warriors.

Before a star-spangled standing-room-only crowd, the Hall at Patriot Place presented by Raytheon proudly became the new custodian of a traveling exhibit entitled “Pro Football and the American Spirit,” which until now could only be seen at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

In honoring the hundreds of pro football players who have served in America’s armed forces during times of war, the stirring collection covers the past 70 years and features an array of awe-inspiring artifacts, from Pat Tillman’s Army Ranger uniform and Rocky Bleier’s Purple Heart back through Jack Kemp’s Buffalo Bills jersey and Lou Groza’s helmet and cleats.

Complemented with video and verbiage, the historical displays help transport both the football fan and military historian on a journey that starts with World War II and the likes of legendary Chuck Bednarik joining the Army Air Corp after Pearl Harbor right through recent visits with troops abroad by Commissioner Roger Goodell and Super Bowl Quarterback Drew Brees.

Along the way, visitors receive new meaning for the term “America’s Team,” when they see the story of Roger Staubach winning the Heisman Trophy at Navy and choosing to go to Vietnam first before going to the Dallas Cowboys, or Air Force Graduate Chad Hennings flying the flag (also on exhibit) as the pilot of 45 missions during Desert Storm, prior to winning three Super Bowls with the ‘Boys.

Although most achieved glory for their gridiron exploits on Sunday afternoons across America, these famous footballers gained true honor fighting with gallantry in foreign lands.

When four-time Pro-Bowl Quarterback Eddie LeBaron used his diminutive 5’7” frame to avoid a fearsome and decidedly larger NFL rusher, it surely could not compare with when he left cover under heavy fire to contact a forward mortar platoon within enemy sight, or the time when he took command of an assaulting rifle platoon that had lost its leader, and kept the attack going. For these efforts in the Korean War, the 11-year NFL veteran received the Bronze Star, and earned forever the moniker “The Littlest General.”

Or when Tom Landry consistently displayed his uncanny calm coaching the Dallas Cowboys, it probably paled in comparison to the 30 missions he co-piloted over Europe in WWII, one of which ended with a crash in Belgium after a bombing raid over Czechoslovakia.

These shining examples of valor demonstrated by football’s finest highlight a history of heroism on display that includes three Congressional Medal of Honor (the nation’s highest military honor) winners, a Bataan Death March survivor, and two players (Don Steinbrunner and Bob Kalsu) who died while serving in Vietnam.

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