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Approximately 1,000 fans braved the 16-degree chill at City Hall Plaza Monday to attend Boston Mayor Martin Walsh’s Super Bowl send-off rally for the New England Patriots.
The event featured Walsh, Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft, Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick, and several team captains including Tom Brady, Dan Connolly, Vince Wilfork, Devin McCourty and Matthew Slater, all of whom expressed great appreciation for the fans in the plaza and at home.
Walsh, the first special guest introduced, pumped up the crowd as he entered with an unpresuming black coat, only to rip it off and reveal he had on the same dark blue jersey dozens of screaming fans in the crowd were wearing.
“Let’s let these guys and the rest of the world know that we support our Patriots,” said Walsh, whose words echoed the crowd’s goal to be heard all the way in Glendale, Arizona, the location of Super Bowl XLIX.
Blue, red and white beanies huddled before the stage with signs saying “Go Pats” and “Down with the Hawks.”
“They’re going to take it all the way and bring that trophy back,” said Walter Kevin Stewart, 52, who moved to Revere five years ago from Indiana because he said he was tired of being so far from his team.
“They just need to go out and play their game and do what they do best,” Stewart said, right before he was whisked away by Patriot’s cheerleaders dancing with the crowd.
Jennifer Martin, 18, a freshman at Suffolk University, held a sign that read, “Forget the ball! Just do your job!” in the crowd. Martin said she had skipped class to attend the rally, but not without the approval of her parents who had travelled from their home in Connecticut to join her.
“We wanted to tell everyone to not worry about the deflate-gate thing — it’s not true — and to just finish the job,” said Martin, stayed up late the night making the sign, which she held up by her screaming mother and father.
Fellow crowd member Bryan Cedorchuk, 44, of Tewksbury, said he agreed the Patriots had nothing to do with the accusations of deflated footballs used in the AFC Championship Game, but noted there should be consequences if foul play was involved for the sake of the integrity of the game.
While Cedorchuk and his family also said the Patriots are going to bring home the win, Cedorchuk shared some secret nervousness about the Seattle Seahawks.
“They’re good. We’re a little scared, but we got a little more motivation,” he said.
Before the captains made their appearances, Martin said she was excited to see all of them, but mainly Brady.
Brady was last to take the stage, and when he did, he received overwhelming cheers from the crowd that rivaled the cheers Belichick received when he greeted the fans.
“I couldn’t be more excited, I’ll tell you. It’s an unbelievable accomplishment for our team,” Brady said. “It’s been a long ride, and the win last weekend was awfully sweet and to do it in front of our crowd … We have the best fans in America.”
Slater said the Patriots appreciate the devotion of their fans.
“We appreciate the way you guys have stuck with us all season. We’re going to try and represent you guys as best we can and try to make you guys proud,” said Slater, the team’s wide receiver.
The remaining captains joined in on thanking the attendees, who McCourty said were tougher than the team they were there to support.
“They’re out there in the cold screaming — keep screaming,” he said.
The fans screamed and danced throughout the rally, and even right outside the plaza, near the surrounding construction zone, where a construction worker with an extra-long lunch break stood on a crane and jumped along with the song “Jump Around” by House of Pain.
Martin’s mother, Julie, accounted for the event in shouting, “This is just the storm before the storm, Arizona!”
