Factbox: Profile of Super Bowl-bound New England Patriots

(Reuters) - Profile of the New England Patriots, who will play the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl on Sunday in Houston. Founded: 1959. The Pats, as they are commonly known, joined the American Football League in 1959 as the Boston Patriots. In 1971 they moved to Foxborough, Massachusetts, and became the New England Patriots. - - AFC titles (season): 9 (1985, 1996, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2011, 2014, 2016). - - Super Bowl titles (season): 4 (2001, 2003, 2004, 2014) - - Head coach: Bill Belichick. Has won four Super Bowls and seven AFC championships with the Patriots. The NFL's longest-tenured active head coach, Belichick ranks first in all-time playoff victories with 25. - - Starting quarterback: Tom Brady. Like his coach, Brady has won four Super Bowls and seven AFC titles. He has also won three Super Bowl most valuable player awards and been selected for 12 Pro Bowls. He holds the NFL record for most postseason touchdown passes (61) and his seven Super Bowl appearances are a record for a starting quarterback. - - Leading receiver: Julian Edelman. Caught 98 passes for 1,106 yards and three touchdowns during regular season. - - Leading rusher: LeGarrette Blount. Rushed 299 times for 1,161 yards and 18 touchdowns during regular season. - - Fun Facts - Upon relocating to Foxborough the team adopted the "Bay State Patriots" moniker that was quickly changed to New England Patriots given the unfortunate "B.S. Patriots" abbreviation. - The Patriots have not had a losing season since 2000, the year before Brady took over as the team's starting quarterback. - Brady was only a sixth round pick in the 2000 NFL draft, taken with the 199th overall pick. Six other teams drafted quarterbacks before Brady was selected. - Patriots are worth an estimated $3.4 billion, second among the NFL's 32 teams, according to a September Forbes estimate. - - Famous Patriots of all-time - Tom Brady: Considered by many to be the National Football League's greatest quarterback of all-time, Brady owns a slew of NFL records to go along with his four Super Bowl victories and is a sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Fame player when he becomes eligible for induction. - Rob Gronkowski: No tight end has ever had a greater impact on the game of football like Gronkowski. At 6-foot-6 (198 cm) and 265 pounds (120 kg), the towering tight end is a mismatch against every opponent he faces and has proven equally dangerous as a blocker. - John Hannah: Considered one of the best offensive linemen to play in the NFL, Hannah, an offensive guard, was a nine-time Pro Bowl selection while competing for the Patriots from 1973 through 1985. He entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991. - Mike Hayes: A cornerback and punt returner, Hayes was named to the Pro Bowl six times in seven years (1976-82) with the Patriots before playing for the Oakland Raiders. Was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997. - Andre Tippett: The talented linebacker was the AFC defensive player of the year in 1985. He totaled a franchise record 35 sacks for the 1984-55 seasons and had 100 for his career between 1982-93. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008. - - Team name and colors: Patriots name selected in public contest with a drawing of a Minuteman preparing to snap a football the original logo. Once called the Boston Patriots, the team changed its name to New England Patriots after moving to Foxborough outside of Boston in 1971. Colors: Nautical blue, New Century Silver, Red and White. - - Most famous supporter: Boston-born actor and producer Mark Wahlberg is a routine guest inside Patriots owner Robert Kraft's luxury box, has been on the sidelines for many games and has appeared with good friend Tom Brady in "Entourage" and "Ted 2." - - 2016 regular season record: 14-2, won AFC East division Week 1 - at Arizona, won 23-21 Week 2 - vs Miami, won 31-24 Week 3 - vs Houston, won 27-0 Week 4 - vs Buffalo, lost 16-0 Week 5 - at Cleveland, won 33-13 Week 6 - vs Cincinnati, won 35-17 Week 7 - at Pittsburgh, won 27-16 Week 8 - at Buffalo, won 41-25 Week 9 - bye week Week 10 - vs Seattle, lost 31-24 Week 11 - at San Francisco, won 30-17 Week 12 - at New York Jets, won 22-17 Week 13 - vs Los Angeles, won 26-10 Week 14 - vs Baltimore, won 30-23 Week 15 - at Denver, won 16-3 Week 16 - vs New York Jets, won 41-3 Week 17 - at Miami, won 35-14 - - AFC playoff seeding: 1 Path to the Super Bowl- First round bye; beat Houston Texans 34-16 in divisional round; beat Pittsburgh Steelers 36-17 in AFC Championship. (Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Andrew Both)