By PFW staff
Aug. 17, 2008

Former Patriots owner James Orthwein died Sunday after a long battle with cancer. He was 84.

Orthwein, who earned riches as the head of the advertising agency D'Arcy MacManus & Masius, retired in 1985. He was an avid horseman and fisherman and got into football ownership in 1992 when he purchased the floundering New England Patriots franchise.

During his two years as owner, he hired Bill Parcells as head coach and the team drafted QB Drew Bledsoe. He sold the Patriots to Robert Kraft in 1994.

Later that decade, Orthwein helped the Rams move from Los Angeles to St. Louis by donating his ownership of 65 percent of the stadium rights to FANS Inc, the nonprofit group that persuaded Georgia Frontiere and the Rams to move to St. Louis.

"I didn't know James Orthwein well, but I did share one of my life's most memorable moments with him and my family back on Jan. 21, 1994," Kraft said in a statement released by the Patriots. "That was the day that I purchased the New England Patriots from Mr. Orthwein. I have a great black and white photo of the two of us sitting at a table that day with my entire family standing behind us. It is a day that I will never forget and a memory that I will always cherish. On behalf of my family, I would like to extend sympathies to the Orthwein family."