Five months before Billy Sullivan became the founding owner of the Patriots in 1959, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover recommended that the special agent in charge of the bureau's Boston office consider developing Sullivan as "an SAC contact," or source of information, according to an internal memo obtained by the Globe from the FBI under the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act. ("SAC" means "special agent in charge.")
Hoover made the recommendation after Sullivan thanked him in writing for a guided tour Sullivan's family received of the FBI headquarters in Washington.
In a strange turn, indeed, Hoover reacted by trying to add Sullivan to a list of prominent SAC contacts he developed through the years. They included Walt Disney, NASCAR founder Bill France, and Joseph P. Kennedy. Their services purportedly included providing information and serving as liaisons between the FBI and other influential figures.
Boston Red Sox - Letters spelled out possible FBI role for original Patriots owner Sullivan - The Boston Globe
07-08-2008, 01:56 PM
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