The night I watched the Patriots win their first Super Bowl was also the first time I tried homemade fried chicken.
It was 2002, and my parents took my brothers and me to see the game at a friend’s house. Our host, a family friend from Florence, took pride in his recipe. He spent hours outside in the garage over a home fryer making sure the oil temperature was just right. I’d had greasy fast-food fried chicken before, but never anything made with such love and attention.
The chicken was double fried, and each bite was crunchy and salty. I was 10 at the time and must have eaten at least 20 wings. Bones piled higher and higher on my plate as the fourth quarter wore on.
The ending of that game was particularly memorable. I recall watching Quarterback Tom Brady deftly advance the ball down the field as the clock wound down — close enough to the end zone for Adam Vinatieri to kick a game-winning field goal against the St. Louis Rams, and just in time.
But most of all, I remember celebrating the Patriots win with my ecstatic friends and family in-between bites of that delicious chicken.
Since that first Super Bowl victory in 2002, eating fried chicken has become synonymous in my mind with watching New England’s home team play in the Super Bowl. It’s almost become an annual occasion.
Over the past two decades, the Patriots have made it to the Super Bowl nine times, including this year. And while every game is different, each victory seems to follow a similar narrative: with time running out, Brady must muster the grit to put together one final game-winning drive.
In 2004, I watched Vinatieri kick his second Super Bowl-winning field goal with four seconds left to defeat the Carolina Panthers. The following season, I watched them beat the Philadelphia Eagles, becoming the second team in National Football League history to win three titles in four years.
They won again in 2015 — after Malcome Butler intercepted a pass on the goal line to secure a win against the Seattle Seahawks — and a fifth time in 2017 when Brady led a spectacular 31 point comeback to win in overtime against the Atlanta Falcons.
I’m one of a generation of Patriots fans who don’t remember what it’s like to root for a losing team. We grew up in an era of New England football greatness. At this point, I all but expect the Patriots to come out on top. But no matter how many times they win, it’s always a nail-biter for New England fans and it always feels like Brady might finally be up against insurmountable odds.
On Sunday, the Patriots are poised to face off against the St. Louis Rams in a poetic rematch of that first win in 2002. Again this year, some sports analysts were skeptical about the Patriots’ chances against the Kansas City Chiefs in the American Football Conference Championship game earlier this month. But once again, Brady mounted a spectacular comeback and sealed the victory.
I understand that all dynasties eventually come to an end. Brady can’t play forever, and the Patriots’ head coach, Bill Belichick, can’t coach forever. But until then, I’ll be eating fried chicken year after year.
Click links to find recipes for avocados and bacon.
Andy Castillo can be reached at a castillo@gazettenet.com.