Fans Send Off Patriots At Super Bowl Rally

FOXBOROUGH, MA — A final good luck was sent to the Patriots by thousands of fans at Gillette Stadium Monday morning when the team held a send-off rally prior to the Patriots’ departure to Super Bowl LII in Minniapolis.

Fans packed the NRG Plaza and the steps to Patriot Place outside the stadium for the morning rally. Jonathan Kraft, the team president, said he was told that fans started showing up at 3:30 a.m., for a rally that started at 9 a.m. and finished at 10:15 a.m.

“What you do for the people on the stage and everyone who works in the building, you’re the foundation, you motivate these great players, you motivate the coaching staff, the medical staff, the video staff. Everyone is inspired by everything you bring,” Kraft said.

Kraft was joined on stage by the team captains, Danny Amendola, and Rob Gronkowski, who was not expected to appear on stage. Gronkowski made his first public appearance since suffering a concussion in the AFC Championship. He returned to practice over the weekend and remains in the concussion protocol.

Head coach Bill Belichick, Amendola, Devin McCourty, Duron Harmon, and Tom Brady all thanked the crowd for their support.

“For those of you going to Minneapolis, we’ll see you there. For those who aren't, I know you’ll cheer your hearts out and we’ll see you Monday,” Belichick said.

Brady was the last to rile the crowd up, ending the rally with a mic drop as “All I do is Win” played and confetti was blasted across the plaza.

“It’s been an incredible journey, we got one more to go. It’s gonna be fun, it’s gonna be a lot of hard work. We’re playing a great team but we got a locker room full of guys ready for the challenge,” Brady said. “Patriots Nation is stronger than ever. We got one more, we’re going to try to win it for you and that’s all we got.”

About a half hour later, the team buses left with the Foxborough fire and police departments leading the way, the End Zone Militia shooting their guns, and pyro going off. The team flew out of T.F. Green Airport outside of Providence and arrived in Minneapolis later that afternoon.

Image via Foxborough Police Department