NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — This week in Connecticut history, Hartford got played by the New England Patriots.

“The New England Patriots will play their first home game in Hartford in the fall of 2001,” then-Connecticut Gov. John Rowland announced with team owner Robert Kraft.

Rowland drew a sweetheart deal to lure Kraft and his Patriots from Foxborough, Mass., to Hartford, Conn.

Reporter: “You couldn’t foresee any circumstances where Massachusetts could come back, and you could write off that two mill and go back?”

Kraft: “That isn’t where we are coming from.”

That turned out not to be the case. Kraft and the Patriots turned down Hartford on May 1, 1999, and kept his team in Massachusetts, patching up differences with the mayor of Boston.

Connecticut fans and business owners were left feeling like pawns. The Pats stayed in Foxborough, got their new stadium, and won six Super Bowl championships.