(NECN: Eileen Curran) – Twelve-year-old Louis Fonseca posed for a picture with his mom in the Patriots Pro Shop in Foxboro, Mass. Monday morning. Louis should have been somewhere else though. He should have been at school.
"Yes," he said with a big grin when asked if he was skipping school.
Louis and his sister Melissa, 6, got to miss school because there was no way he would have made it home in time after going to the Patriots game Sunday night. You see, Louis is a Pats fan, who lives in Phillipsburg, N.J.
"I don’t know, I just like them," he said.
His father isn't a Pats fan, but his mother is, despite living in Jets and Giants territory.
"I know!" exclaimed Elena Parra, Louis' mother.
Louis got to see quite a game Sunday, as the Pats beat the Texans to go to the AFC Championship game. This Sunday, they will take on the Baltimore Ravens in a rematch of last year's game.
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Patriot fans are confident.
"One hundred percent confident," said Tina Mastroianni of North Providence, R.I. "I have to have faith in my team."
"I think it’s a gimme," said George Smith of Milford, Mass. about the Pats winning the AFC Championship.
Lisa Dewhurst of North Andover, Mass. was also certain the Pats would beat the Ravens.
"We're going to New Orleans," she said.
But, the team did lose Rob Gronkowski, again, when he hurt his arm Sunday, again. Still, fans feel it's really up to one particular player now.
"I still think it comes down to Brady," said Smith. "I think Brady is a much better quarterback than (Joe) Flacco."
Even the youngest fans have faith.
"This is Brady Christopher Roberts," said Danielle Archambault, a die-hard Pats fan who named her 2-month-old son after Number 12. She feels he's the team's lucky charm.
"Since we’ve had him, we’ve had good luck. We're 8 weeks old, and I think ...we're going to bring it home this year."
As for Louis, he has to go back home and back to school, so he'll be watching Sunday's championship game in New Jersey. His prediction:
"I think they are going to beat the Ravens."
