Harvard Stadium is not only the site of countless Crimson victories on the gridiron, it is the answer to a very important sports trivia question.

The stadium is where the National Football League's all-time winningest head coach, Don Shula, coached his first game for the Miami Dolphins.

Shula lost 24-14 to the Boston Patriots, who were playing their NFL season at Harvard Stadium during the fall of 1970.

Although students who wished to forsake Sunday studying had a new means of procrastination, few chose to trek across the Charles to watch the Patriots play seven home games against their National Football League rivals.

"There were not droves of Harvard students trying to get a glimpse of the Patriots," says Gary W. Farneti '71, captain of the Harvard football team. "It was a non-event. Except for the football players who met some of the Patriots, it did not alter life at Harvard."

The Boston Patriots contacted Harvard athletic officials about using the stadium for the 1970 season while their current home in Foxboro was being built.

Harvard initially balked at the request but eventually granted the team the right to play at the stadium, albeit with several conditions, according to Patriots officials.

"I remember it was very hard getting Harvard to approve the use of the facility. There was serious opposition to having a pro franchise there. Eventually one member of the Board of Trustees said it was worthwhile," says Patrick Sullivan, whose father Bill owned the Patriots from 1960 until 1988.

Patrick Sullivan, who now is the owner of Game Creek Video, says Harvard agreed to host the Patriots on the condition that the Patriots play at the Stadium for one year only.

Harvard further demanded that the team replace the field at the end of the season, Sullivan says.

The Patriots also made minor improvements to the press box, he says.

Harvard also refused to let the Patriots use the varsity locker room during the season.

"Harvard told the Patriots that the varsity locker room was only for the Harvard varsity football team," says Boston Globe sports columnist and NBC commentator Will McDonough, who covered the Patriots for the Globe during the 1970 season. "The Patriots were forced to dress in a hotel on Soldiers Field Rd."

The Patriots played the first game in franchise history in Harvard Stadium during the 1960 preseason against the Dallas Texans (who later became the Kansas City Chiefs).

They lost 24-14 before a crowd of 11,000.