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After championship drought, a delirious deluge

THIS STORY APPEARED IN

January 28, 2012|By Eric Moskowitz

(Page 3 of 3)

Her daughter, Nancy, a season-ticket holder, lost a leg in a car accident last summer and was not expected to walk this season. But she returned for the playoff win over Denver, walking on a new prosthesis.

“It’s been one heck of a ride, and we’re still on it,’’ said Faford, whose brother-in-law, Richard, a Worcester firefighter and season-ticket holder, died of a heart attack in 1997, a day and a half after fighting a fire and hours after attending his last game. He never saw a championship or the new stadium, but his name adorns a plaque on one of the seats his relatives share - Nancy offers a “Hey, Richard, did you see that?’’ from time to time.

“We are so psyched right now,’’ said Faford, a retired nurse’s aide who went out the night of the Baltimore game and bought $500 in Super Bowl T-shirts, hats, and flags to send to her son and his family in Florida - where they decamped a few championships ago.

The team may have a Belichickian focus on the game, but all over New England, fans are letting their thoughts wander toward a Super Bowl victory and the celebration that would follow, beginning to ruminate on the next rally.

Eric DeCicco of Peabody has not been back since the first, when he was an unemployed 25-year-old with the time and stamina to camp out for 12 hours and avoid drinking coffee in the cold, fearing a bathroom break would cost him his front-row position by the Government Center stage.

DeCicco has missed every rally since. Now, he is daydreaming about next Sunday and beyond, contemplating a festive 10-year reunion.

“Knock on wood. If they win, I’m going to go,’’ said DeCicco, hired soon after that first rally as a graphic designer at a publishing firm, where he still works. “I’ve got enough personal time built up I think I can take a day.’’