Dorito Dink
Third String But Playing on Special Teams
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2015
- Messages
- 752
- Reaction score
- 1,908
Wow. Where do I start? It was a rollercoaster ride to even schedule the trip; couldn’t get anybody to go with me originally because of $ concerns, work conflicts, etc. Finally figured out the $ issue for my sister to come but her work at the hospital wouldn’t let her shift on Saturday so we’d have to go down on Sunday and be flirting with timing disasters. After much persuasion, she was able to get off and we went down Saturday night (got to Houston at 1am). Two of my best buds decided to come along for the ride but didn’t get tickets.
We started out tailgating at the Crowne Plaza where we picked up our tickets. I ended up talking to this group of guys and turns out they are from my parents’ hometown (Woburn) and knew my dad and his family very well. Small world! Ended up getting a call from one of my buddies who was here and works at Fox Sports 1 saying he had 4 extra tickets to the players tribune tailgate. These tickets cost $1,000 each just to get in and he was able to get us in for free! They had tons of drinks, food and some NFL players were there. I noticed Ryan Fitzpatrick standing next to me and walked up to shake his hand. Real down to earth guy. We ended up leaving about 1.5 hours before gametime to get in the stadium where the true rollercoaster ride began.
Firstly, the overwhelming amount of Pats fans around the stadium definitely subsided a bit from about 90/10 ratio to a 65/35 but it was still a great showing by Pats nation. I was impressed at the Falcons turnout for such a small fanbase. I will say that I was about to puke after hearing “RISE UP!” five trillion times before and during the game. I got plenty of “cheater” remarks and overall obnoxiousness from many Falcons fans. They did not represent their fanbase as well as some of the posters that posted very respectfully here over the past two weeks.
The game got off to a typical Patriots Super Bowl start: offense kept sputtering but the defense was making some stops. Key drops, an inability to open up any running lanes and block for Brady were the key themes on offense. I typically get worked up when shouting at my tv but my sister and I stayed surprisingly calm when we were down 21-3. I went to the restroom at halftime and the amount of chirping by Atlanta fans was nothing short of obnoxious. One guy kept screaming “number 1 defense my ass” when I calmly reminded him that the defense only gave up 14 points to a historic offense (way off their average). I also calmly reminded him that we have Tom Brady and have come back from worse deficits before. I got some “need to deflate the balls” and “patriots are overrated and cheaters” remarks but I returned to my seat and was patiently waiting for the comeback to begin. Once we went down 28-3, my stomach felt sick. I wasn’t even pissed; I was disappointed. How could a Patriots team look this unprepared and flustered on this stage? If they come back and make a game out of it, I don’t care about the outcome. I’ll be proud of them. Sure enough, slowly but surely we chipped away. I kept telling my sister: if anybody can do it, it’s Brady. Watch him go to work. Once we got to 28-20, I thought for sure we would tie it. But then Julio Jones goes vintage Manningham on the sidelines and it looks like all is lost – NOPE! Trey Flowers with a freaking monster sack. It’s just crazy to think that in last year’s training camp, we saw this 4th round pick have an amazing preseason with so much promise and here he is proving us right on the biggest stage. Brady gets the ball back and I had zero doubts we would score a touchdown but was worried about the 2 point conversion. Does there need to be anything else said about Danny Amendola? One of the most clutch players in Patriots history. Compared to the expectations and his role, he absolutely exceeded them in the playoffs. Guy is money. Once we got the 2 point conversion and won the toss in OT, I started giving back some of the chirps to the ATL fans. “You all might as well go home now.”
From the middle of the 3rd quarter to the end of OT, it had to be the biggest swing of emotion in human history. From complete disappointment in the middle of the 3rd, to pure elation at the end of OT, to pure rage when that gingerphuck took the mic, the feeling cannot be put into words. I was told by a few people that they couldn’t even hear a word Roger said during the ceremony. Proud to say we were a big part of that, but I’m still paying the price for it with no voice today at work
Once the award ceremony started, my sister and I ran down from the 600s to the bottom level to try to get near the field. There was tons of security at each entrance and wouldn’t allow anybody down. We ended up jumping the rails and got down right to the field where Slater, Nink, Bennett and a few others were still hanging around. I have some incredible photos that I’ll try to post later
TL;DR - it was the most amazing night of my life and nothing will ever be able to diminish the pure bliss of witnessing the greatest QB, Coach, GM and team of all time come back from the impossible and cement their legacies. I love this team and I love our fanbase. Best weekend ever!
We’re onto 2017!
We started out tailgating at the Crowne Plaza where we picked up our tickets. I ended up talking to this group of guys and turns out they are from my parents’ hometown (Woburn) and knew my dad and his family very well. Small world! Ended up getting a call from one of my buddies who was here and works at Fox Sports 1 saying he had 4 extra tickets to the players tribune tailgate. These tickets cost $1,000 each just to get in and he was able to get us in for free! They had tons of drinks, food and some NFL players were there. I noticed Ryan Fitzpatrick standing next to me and walked up to shake his hand. Real down to earth guy. We ended up leaving about 1.5 hours before gametime to get in the stadium where the true rollercoaster ride began.
Firstly, the overwhelming amount of Pats fans around the stadium definitely subsided a bit from about 90/10 ratio to a 65/35 but it was still a great showing by Pats nation. I was impressed at the Falcons turnout for such a small fanbase. I will say that I was about to puke after hearing “RISE UP!” five trillion times before and during the game. I got plenty of “cheater” remarks and overall obnoxiousness from many Falcons fans. They did not represent their fanbase as well as some of the posters that posted very respectfully here over the past two weeks.
The game got off to a typical Patriots Super Bowl start: offense kept sputtering but the defense was making some stops. Key drops, an inability to open up any running lanes and block for Brady were the key themes on offense. I typically get worked up when shouting at my tv but my sister and I stayed surprisingly calm when we were down 21-3. I went to the restroom at halftime and the amount of chirping by Atlanta fans was nothing short of obnoxious. One guy kept screaming “number 1 defense my ass” when I calmly reminded him that the defense only gave up 14 points to a historic offense (way off their average). I also calmly reminded him that we have Tom Brady and have come back from worse deficits before. I got some “need to deflate the balls” and “patriots are overrated and cheaters” remarks but I returned to my seat and was patiently waiting for the comeback to begin. Once we went down 28-3, my stomach felt sick. I wasn’t even pissed; I was disappointed. How could a Patriots team look this unprepared and flustered on this stage? If they come back and make a game out of it, I don’t care about the outcome. I’ll be proud of them. Sure enough, slowly but surely we chipped away. I kept telling my sister: if anybody can do it, it’s Brady. Watch him go to work. Once we got to 28-20, I thought for sure we would tie it. But then Julio Jones goes vintage Manningham on the sidelines and it looks like all is lost – NOPE! Trey Flowers with a freaking monster sack. It’s just crazy to think that in last year’s training camp, we saw this 4th round pick have an amazing preseason with so much promise and here he is proving us right on the biggest stage. Brady gets the ball back and I had zero doubts we would score a touchdown but was worried about the 2 point conversion. Does there need to be anything else said about Danny Amendola? One of the most clutch players in Patriots history. Compared to the expectations and his role, he absolutely exceeded them in the playoffs. Guy is money. Once we got the 2 point conversion and won the toss in OT, I started giving back some of the chirps to the ATL fans. “You all might as well go home now.”
From the middle of the 3rd quarter to the end of OT, it had to be the biggest swing of emotion in human history. From complete disappointment in the middle of the 3rd, to pure elation at the end of OT, to pure rage when that gingerphuck took the mic, the feeling cannot be put into words. I was told by a few people that they couldn’t even hear a word Roger said during the ceremony. Proud to say we were a big part of that, but I’m still paying the price for it with no voice today at work
Once the award ceremony started, my sister and I ran down from the 600s to the bottom level to try to get near the field. There was tons of security at each entrance and wouldn’t allow anybody down. We ended up jumping the rails and got down right to the field where Slater, Nink, Bennett and a few others were still hanging around. I have some incredible photos that I’ll try to post later
TL;DR - it was the most amazing night of my life and nothing will ever be able to diminish the pure bliss of witnessing the greatest QB, Coach, GM and team of all time come back from the impossible and cement their legacies. I love this team and I love our fanbase. Best weekend ever!
We’re onto 2017!
