Autographed by: Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, Deion Branch, Tedy Bruschi, Adam Vinatieri, Ty Law, Malcolm Butler, Rodney Harrison, Vince Wilfork, John Hannah, Wes Welker and Drew Bledsow. The New England Patriots are an AFC East division team within the NFL. An original member of the American Football League (AFL), the Patriots joined the NFL in the 1970 merger of the two leagues. The Patriots have appeared in the Super Bowl nine times in franchise history, the most of any team, seven of them since the arrival of head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady in 2000. The Patriots have since become one of the most successful teams in NFL history, winning 14 AFC East titles in 16 seasons since 2001, without a losing season in that period. The franchise has since set numerous notable records, including most wins in a ten-year period (126, in 2003–2012), an undefeated 16-game regular season in 2007, the longest winning streak consisting of regular season and playoff games in NFL history (a 21-game streak from October 2003 to October 2004), and the most consecutive division titles won by a team in NFL history (won eight straight division titles from 2009 to 2016). The team owns the record for most Super Bowls reached by a head coach-quarterback tandem (seven), as well as being the first tandem to win the Super Bowl 13 years after the first.