Across New England, Patriots fans continued celebrating the Super Bowl LI champions, even if those fans couldn’t be in Boston for Tuesday’s huge victory parade.
Several fans in the Burlington, Vermont area told necn the more than 400-mile round-trip drive to Boston to attend the Patriots parade was just too much, given work, school, and the snowy conditions.
However, all said they were there in spirit, and connected to the celebration through TVs, computers, or smart phones.
“It was the game of the century, for sure,” football fan Ned Holt said of Super Bowl LI as he watched the parade of champions on TVs inside Buffalo Wild Wings in Burlington during his lunch break. “Great, great team.”
At Champlain College, a piece of school employee Matt Stattel was wishing he could be in that huge crowd cheering on his beloved Pats.
“You always sort of want to relish in it,” the longtime fan said as he watched the parade on television inside a Champlain College dining facility.
However, work obligations and the weather kept him in Vermont, Stattel said. He added that he still plans to re-watch parts of the Super Bowl at home.
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“I don’t know if it’s even hit me yet,” Stattel said of the Patriots’ dramatic come-from-behind victory over the Atlanta Falcons. “It’s been two days and I’m still processing what I saw. It’s pretty amazing.”
Brennan’s Pub inside the Davis Center at the University of Vermont was showing the Patriots party on its screens, too.
There, Erica Silveira of Waterbury, Vermont was watching, following an appointment nearby.
Silveira said she used to live in Norwell, Massachusetts, near Boston, and the Super Bowl excitement has had her reliving the electric energy and passion for the city’s sports teams.
“Yesterday, being up here in Vermont felt too removed,” Silveira said. “I couldn’t imagine what it would be like being in schools yesterday and being on the T yesterday, and just the hype. It probably would’ve been really fun.”
Silveira said this fifth Super Bowl championship for the Patriots was just as exciting as the first, fifteen years ago.
And if these fans are already having football withdrawal, they needn’t worry. The start of the next NFL season is just seven months away.
