I also have to add the Texans game 2 weeks later in Jacoby Brisset's first start. Unreal we crushed Houston that game. Here is Brisset's memorable TD run.
A very memorable game because a lot of people predicted we had no chance without Brady or Jimmy G and Jacoby hadn't played at all.
Anyhow, sometimes it's interactions with people sitting near you that you remember and that game was definitely one of them.
We had two seats right in front of us that were always up for grabs and you often got opposing fans and this was the case that day. I'm
not sure if I ever met a Texans fan prior, but one was an older woman from Mass. who was nuts about the Texans there with her
Brother and she was tiny, but loud. So, I get to chatting with her and nicely asked her what her deal was. She was what my Mother
used to call a "poor soul". She was really frail and didn't look all that healthy and I wondered if this was some kind of Make-a-wish deal,
so I didn't give her a hard time at all, but listened to her rant that she hated the Pats and how her guys were going to kill us.
I remember asking if she was really a Texans fan or had 31 jerseys in her closet and rotated them weekly. She gave a phlegmy cackle at that
and gave my hand a squeeze. Her hand felt like a little, cold claw which sent a chill down my spine. Her Brother just looked uncomfortable
and my guess was that she didn't get out of the house much, but as a gracious host I kept the banter up on and off. She was nice enough
for a hater and knew a lot about the Texans, but was just a little out there, i.e., she got really upset when she learned that she couldn't smoke
in the stadium. I mean, who knew? And she drank like a fish.
Anyhow, it wasn't long before the Pats started crushing them and she, all 90 pounds of her, started flipping off the entire stadium every time
the crowd went nuts. Double freedom rockets for all to see. It was a very celebratory atmosphere, so she had plenty of opportunities. Her
Brother kept begging her to stop, but God love her, she just kept it up.
With a couple of minutes left, a buddy nudges me and said "there goes trouble". I look up and she's heading for the ramp and we made
eye contact. I stood up with my hands raised and mouthed w
hat, no goodbye? and she just flips me a final double bird and everybody laughed
like hell. She was a piece of work.
I thought it a little like a twisted version of the tragic airport scene at the end of Casablanca --
we'll always have Foxboro.