Patriots sent off in style by massive rally at Gillette Stadium

The Patriots hosted a crowd of 35,000 at Gillette Stadium for a send-off rally before departing for Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta, Georgia.

It’s not often that a crowd of 35,000 fans gathers together at a football stadium where there’s no football being played.

That’s exactly what happened on Sunday though, as the New England Patriots held a free send-off rally at Gillette Stadium before departing for the airport. The attendance dwarfed last year’s rally turnout, which was held on a Monday. Moving the event to the weekend ended up being a stroke of brilliance for the organizers, as the crowd on hand had to be larger than anyone could have expected or hoped for.

The highlight speakers were Robert and Jonathan Kraft, Bill Belichick, and of course Tom Brady, who led fans in a rousing unified chant of “We’re still here, we’re still here,” before passing the mic off.

James White, David Andrews, Matthew Slater, Devin McCourty, and Patrick Chung also took turns pumping up the crowd. When all was said and done, the Patriots representatives left the stage, boarded buses with the rest of players, coaches, and staffers, and the whole caravan departed for the airport. Along the way, cheering fans and well-wishers shouted out words of encouragement as the buses drove by.

Not long after, the team boarded their private Patriots-painted jet and took off for warmer weather down south. Before 5 pm EST Sunday, the plane had touched down in Georgia, and the team was headed to the hotel.

Next up on the schedule is Super Bowl Opening Night, scheduled to get underway around 5:30 pm EST Monday night. Many Patriots and Rams players are expected to draw large media crowds, and some of the best sound-bytes all week usually come on this night.

Musket Fire will be sure to have you covered for all the news, quotes, and stories that occur… so stay tuned.