A Loyal Minuteman and Patriot 

John Hendry’s first connection with the New England Patriots came through a graduate assistant coach who went through the UMass Amherst Sport Management program. 

“He did an internship with the Patriots during training camp in 1976,” says Hendry who was a UMass junior at the time. “When he got a full-time job with them in 1977, he brought me on as a summer intern. And I’ve been hanging around ever since.” 

By “hanging around” Hendry ’77, ’78MS means volunteering with the team and serving as head statistician starting in 1986. At the time, the Patriots were not the juggernaut they became in the 2000s, but he has had the good fortune to see them participate in 11 Super Bowls, with six championships from 2001-2018. 

“I’ve seen the evolution from fairly mediocre for a long time to bursting onto the scene in 2001,” he says.    

Hendry’s love of football motivated him to become the UMass Amherst Football’s team manager and student trainer during his freshman year in 1973. In those days, he says, it was a top priority for the team to beat a cross-state rival: “Beating Boston College was the holy grail,” he says. 

While Hendry immersed himself with the football team, he was pursuing his undergraduate degree in business administration. He enjoyed his UMass experience so much, he decided to stay on for an extra year to earn his master’s degree in sports management.  

“The Sports Management program was just getting off the ground at the time,” he says. “It wasn’t yet a part of the business school. It was under the physical education department, headquartered in the Curry Hicks Cage.” 

With both degrees in hand, Hendry embarked on a long career in information technology, working for Liberty Mutual, Digital Equipment Corp., Staples, and State Street, while maintaining his service to the Patriots and his connections to UMass. 

“I had a wonderful experience at UMass and met some great people, some of whom I remain friends with to this day,” he says. 

Today, Hendry has amassed more than 35 years of giving to athletics at UMass Amherst, primarily as a donor to the football program and a member of the UMass Gridiron Club. He attends as many football games and events as possible and views his consistent generosity as a way to ensure the program has the resources it needs to be competitive and prepare student-athletes for different career paths after graduation. 

“The athletic department in general and football in particular were very good to me while I was there,” he says. “I want to help them out as much as I can.”