FOXBORO — The large, enthusiastic crowd braving chilly, but not quite frigid temperatures at Gillette Stadium on Monday morning for the Patriots' Super Bowl LII send-off rally, belied the increased banality of this exercise.
This is how Foxboro says goodbye to the Patriots every year, it seems — with a pep rally typically bracketed by a parade in, oh, roughly eight days' time.
But look hard enough on Monday, and an undercurrent of been-there, done-that permeated the festivities. Just check out the signage.
"Drive for Five" has been replaced by "Blitz for Six." Last year's slogan of "One More" apparently sold the franchise short, so this year the Pats were more open-ended with "Not Done." The cliché of "This never gets old" actually did get old a few years back.
And then there was the sign from this time last year — the one that said, "Win and Shut the World Up" on cardboard — that had been updated for this go-round with a single sheet of paper added to the end of it with the word, "Again!"
"It's amazing," said Mike Mitchell, a Foxboro native who was here for last year's rally as well, "but it's almost kind of expected."
Indeed, one could probably plug and play the same quotes from last season's rally, when the temperature and the soundtrack were about the same. Even the opponent was a bird of prey then, too, as a sign on the Patriot Place steps enjoyed pointing out.
This year's rally included highlights from previous Super Bowl wins — those from Super Bowl XXXIX's victory over the Philadelphia Eagles felt more prominent — and appearances by Julian Edelman (via video) and former Patriots Jermaine Wiggins and Scott Zolak to rev up the crowd. And the crowd included fans of all ages, with toddlers propped up on shoulders alongside fans who remember rooting for a team in white helmets with the tricorn hat on them.
Raymond Duclos, who had been up since 4 a.m., said he "dying to get here." He's watched the Patriots since their inception — "forever," in his words — and he and his son Ryan had decided over weekend to drive in from Woonsocket, Rhode Island, to see off the team.
"This is the first time we've ever come to anything like this," Ryan Duclos said, calling it a, "Mental health day off from work. It's just a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I'm here to share it with my dad. It's pretty cool."
"Forget work! Just keep cheering!" Patriots safety Devin McCourty said from the podium.
"We've got the best fans in sports," said defensive back Duron Harmon. "We're not talking about football; we're talking about the best fans in sports, how you come out and support us, with the energy you guys bring. We love it."
Gillette Stadium has existed for 16 football seasons, seven of which have ended with the Patriots en route to the Super Bowl. That’s pretty good math, especially when that run was prefaced with a Super Bowl title in the final season of old Foxboro Stadium.
Mike Mitchell's 6-year-old son, Logan, struggled to remember attending last year's rally. But he was amped to watch his team in yet another Super Bowl.
"He's gotten used to it," Mike Mitchell said.
"He doesn't understand how lucky he is to see his team always win," said Pam Mitchell.
"When you think about the Patriots and the run they've been on over the last 20 years … it's been a fantasy," Ryan Duclos said.
One of the men most responsible for that fantasy had the last word Monday — as he hopes to this coming Sunday.
"It's been an incredible journey," the team's 40-year-old quarterback Tom Brady said amidst M-V-P chants. "We've got one more to go. It's going to be fun, it's going to be a lot of hard work. We're playing a great team. We've got a locker room full of guys that are ready for the challenge.
"We obviously can't bring you all to Minnesota with us, but you guys are with us. We know that, you know that, we all know that. Patriot Nation is stronger than ever. We've got one more to go, we're going to go out there and try to win it for you guys. We love you! Patriots, out!"
With that, Brady dropped the microphone.
On to Minneapolis.