Ultimate party fills Hub streets
Title-hungry Patriots Nation cheered the Super Bowl champs from end-to-end of a raucous parade, sending the battle-worn players into the offseason with the roar of 1 million fans gone wild ringing in their ears.
“We’re going to remember this one for the rest of our lives,” MVP QB Tom Brady told fans at City Hall Plaza yesterday. “I told you we were going to bring this sucker home, and we brought it home!”
No. 12, holding a Lombardi Trophy to the sky, added: “Damn, that game was hard.”
Fans yelled back: “We want six. We want six.” And the Pats joined in.
The rally kicked off at 11:30 a.m. with rainbow-colored duck boats and flat-bed trucks rolling out of the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center, the amphibious vehicles brimming with players and their families — spirits undampened by the dark, snow-filled skies.
Brady and other players aboard the green “Beacon Hilda” duck boat danced to Ozzie Osbourne and Flo Rida, the MVP quarterback’s son, Ben, dabbing as red, white and blue confetti rained down from the sky.
Players mirrored the fans lining the streets and peering down from buildings — all with wide grins and outstretched hands counting their five Super Bowl victories. Patriots owner Robert Kraft opted for a simple gloved thumbs-up in one hand and a Lombardi Trophy in the other.
Police said 1 million fans braved the snow and rain, with a few needing medical help. Boston Public Health Commission spokeswoman Marjorie Nesin said of the 54 people transported to the hospital, none suffered critical or life-threatening injuries.
“The conditions varied from a diabetic person needing help to folks who became anxious in a crowd, and, yes, included intoxicated individuals,” she said.
Others skipped school and work to cheer on the Pats. Todd Campbell, who was working in the Dalton Street Parking Garage, had a penthouse view of the Pats as their duck boats chugged out of a loading dock at the Hynes.
“I got lucky. The boss is here and he let us watch,” Campbell said.
Cheers exploded at Charles and Boylston streets as confetti blasted into the wet skies and exuberant Patriots stars rolled by.
Backup QB Jimmy Garappolo smiled and waved the Super Bowl trophy into the air. Linebacker Rob Ninkovich called to the crowd for a drink and someone threw JAM-PACKED: Fans crowd in to see the five-time Super Bowl champion Patriots yesterday on Tremont Street near the Common. him a vodka nip, causing raucous cheers.
“This is once in a lifetime,” said Jackie Najarian of Wakefield, whose 7-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter were playing hooky for the parade. “I watched the first Super Bowl win with Tom Brady with my dad. We watch every weekend.”
Jennifer Didonna drove more than nine hours from Virginia Beach with her four sons — 12-year-old twins, a 14-year-old and a 5-year-old — to watch the parade with her parents.
“I never counted them out,” Didonna said of the Pats. “My dad rented a hotel room. He canceled it in the third quarter. I told him to rebook it. Never lose faith.”
The team had one last surprise at City Hall Plaza, where they addressed the roaring crowd — with some booing Gov. Charlie Baker but most yelling along with Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Super Bowl hero James White, Devin McCourty, Malcolm Butler and Coach Bill Belichick, capping off an amazing day.