Patriots to Honor Legendary Broadcasters Sunday

For 36 years, New England Patriots fans have known Gil Santos as the voice of the franchise.

On Sunday, Santos will call his final regular season game at Gillette Stadium as the legendary radio broadcaster will retire at season's end.

To honor Santos and his longtime broadcast partner, Gino "The Duke" Cappelletti - who retired prior to the start of the 2012 season - the New England Patriots have dedicated Sunday's game against the Miami Dolphins to the radio tandem and both will be introduced to fans during a pregame ceremony.

In addition, the two will grace the cover of Sunday's game program and Cappelletti will join Santos in the booth to call the first series of the game together for one last time.

Santos and Cappelletti have articulated the sights and sounds and the play-by-play action of Patriots football for the past 28 years.

Sunday’s game will be Santos’ 743rd of his broadcast career as he began calling games for the Boston Patriots at Fenway Park in 1966. He called the games for the Patriots for the next 14 seasons (1966-79).

He returned to the booth in 1991 and has broadcast every Patriots game since then. Cappelletti, a member of the original Boston Patriots in 1960 and the all-time leading scorer in the American Football League’s history, retired after 31 years as the team’s iconic analyst. A member of the Patriots Hall of Fame since 1992, Cappelletti spent his entire 11-year career with the Patriots from 1960-70 after joining the team from the University of Minnesota. He went on to earn five all-star selections as well as the AFL’s Most Valuable Player Award in 1964.

Following his playing career, Cappelletti spent seven seasons (1972-78) in the broadcast booth before returning to the sidelines as the special teams coach from 1979 through 1981 on Ron Erhardt’s staff. He returned to the broadcast booth in 1988, where he remained through the 2011 season.
 
Prior to Sunday's game, The Hall at Patriot Place presented by Raytheon will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Hall currently features an exhibit on legendary local sports photographer

Santos and Cappelletti can be heard on 98.5 The Sports Hub for Sunday's regular season finale at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots and Miami Dolphins kick-off at 4:25 p.m.