While Seattle Seahawks fans seek to claim their second Lombardi Trophy in Sunday’s Super Bowl matchup, New England Patriots fans are aiming for their seventh title. And, just as importantly, many hope to “finally” end what they call their “long” and “agonizing” six years of defeats.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be back on top soon,” said Aidan Lafferty, 24, with the confidence of a twenty-something who grew up watching the Patriots win, and win again.
“It’s the beginning of a dynasty, again!” exclaimed George Zabalou, 24, sipping a beer a few tables away at the sports bar Game On!, whose walls are covered with banners, photos, and jerseys attesting to the city’s sports wealth. Starting in 2001, Boston’s four major sports teams won 12 championships in 18 seasons, including the Patriots’ six Super Bowl victories.
Those who were lucky enough to grow up during those years when Boston dubbed itself the “City of Champions” never went more than two years without skipping school for another championship celebration.
“It was parade after parade,” said Jenna Freni, 24. “It was incredible.”
Freni’s friend, Angel Galiotzakis, 23, agreed. “Growing up, I didn’t know that going to the Super Bowl wasn’t normal.”
So it was a big shock for many when star quarterback Tom Brady left, the Patriots’ parades stopped, and fans found themselves enduring a painful six-year title drought for the Patriots.
“Man, I was in a tough spot,” said Lafferty. “I was thinking: ‘Is it always going to be like this? Are we never going to win again?’”
Another Pats fan, Joe Reynolds, says it was a tough time for him too. “It was like: ‘What’s going on?’” he said from his home in Cambridge. “That’s a huge drop from what I expected.” “There’s a clear connection between the Patriots’ losses and his use of antidepressants,” added his wife, Emily Borges.
But hearing Patriots fans complain about their suffering is what’s unbearable for NFL fans from, well, pretty much everywhere else.
“Oh! Get over it! It wasn’t that bad,” mocked Noah Seligson, a New York Jets fan with a much, much longer history of suffering. “The Jets haven’t been to the Super Bowl since 1969! Boston fans should grow up and feel lucky for what they have.”
Andrew Lawrenson, who lives in New England but roots for the Miami Dolphins, said Patriots fans don’t know what real suffering is. The Dolphins won their last Super Bowl in January 1974.
“Patriots fans drive me crazy,” said Lawrenson. “They’re all arrogant and talk too much. The Patriots deserve to suffer a little more. They had 20 years of glory; they can have at least 10 years of misery.”
Zac Vug, host of the online sports show Take Back With Zac, calls New England “the most spoiled franchise in the universe.”
“My God, their attitude is horribly repulsive,” he said.
Even some loyal Patriots fans—of a certain age—admit that a change in attitude might be necessary.
Superfan Keith Birchall, 58, has lived long enough to remember decades of Pats losses and when the team was ridiculed as the “Patsies” (something like “the suckers”). That has kept him more realistic than today’s young “arrogant” fans, he said.
He still gets annoyed with young fans who didn’t bother to go to this year’s Wild Card game, taking it for granted that the Pats would win and they’d have a chance at an even bigger game this season.
“That’s pure arrogance and cockiness,” said Birchall. “They don’t get it. They have no idea how bad we were before.”
As for the hate from rival fans, New England diehards dismiss it as pure envy. As Pats fans love to say: “They hate us because they ain’t us.”
And they’re not entirely wrong. “I hate them! I hate them because I’m not one of them,” admits Vug, whose team, the Los Angeles Chargers, has never won a Super Bowl. “I’m a man of faith. I have to admit my flaws. I’m an envious human being. I envy what the Patriots have. I envy the ease of their lives. It’s the perfect sports relationship. And all I have is pain and suffering.”
You won’t hear any such confession from Jason Hibbs, a Seattle Seahawks fan.
“We don’t want to be like them,” he shot back. “They’re insufferable!”
But a moment later, Hibbs adds a caveat: it wouldn’t be so bad to be hated.
“It means you’re winning,” he said. “In a few years, maybe everyone will hate us because we win two or three times. I want to be hated at least once. It would be an amazing feeling.”
That’s right. Ask any Patriots fan and they’ll say: winning is totally worth it.
Source: npr.org by Tovia Smith