The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Since their founding in 1960 as the Boston Patriots, over 1,000 players, including 10 Pro Football Hall of Famers have played for the team.[1] Of those players, eight have had their uniform numbers officially retired by the organization.[2] Professional sports franchises, including the Patriots, retire uniform numbers to recognize the contributions that a player has made towards the team. It is customary that after the uniform number is retired, it is no longer worn by future players with that team.