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Boston celebrates Patriots

Patriots fans cheer during a victory parade in Boston, Massachusetts, Tuesday. Over a million fans came out to celebrate their team's Super Bowl XXXVIII win. PHOTO: EPA

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and owner Robert Kraft hoisted two Super Bowl trophies on Tuesday while thousands along the parade route roared and confetti rained from buildings.

New England, two days after their second NFL title in three years, rode down Boylston Street in amphibious vehicles, flanked by police on foot and motorcycles.

Coach Bill Belichick joined Kraft and Brady in the lead vehicle, followed by the rest of the team as the procession crept through the city.

With an afternoon rally planned for City Hall, schools and businesses braced for an epidemic of absenteeism for the celebration marking the 32-29 victory over the Carolina Panthers in Houston.

Thousands of revelers -- some wearing face paint, wigs and Revolutionary-era militia outfits -- began streaming into City Hall Plaza early Tuesday. By midday it was packed with screaming fans. The crowd cheered as images of the parade were broadcast on huge screens.

Many more fans greeted the triumphant Patriots along the route. Spectators were stacked 10 deep along both sides of Tremont Street.

Among them were high school students Sheila Gill and Dena Norton of Medfield. They hoped to get a glimpse of Brady, the Super Bowl MVP, and receiver Troy Brown.

"We skipped school, but we'll do anything to support the Patriots," Norton said.

Some fans near the Statehouse climbed atop the subway station entrances, but police pulled them down. Windows were open in buildings along the route, and people leaned out, waving banners.

Jason Scheinbart, of Burlington, Vermont, standing in Copley Square, said attending the celebration was all in a day's work for a "professional Patriots fan" who drives almost 900km round-trip to be at every home game.

"Now we've proven to them it wasn't a fluke," said Scheinbart, 34, referring to the first Super Bowl title. "Now every team in the world that wants to win the Super Bowl has to go through Foxboro, Massachusetts."

Jenny Callahan, 20, a Wentworth Institute of Technology student from Florida, came with about 10 friends. She had ``Go Pats'' written in blue on one side of her face, with Brady's No.12 on the other.

"I love him a lot," she said.

It was about 0?C and overcast in Boston at noon.

John McCoy, an 18-year-old high school student from North Attleboro, said he arrived at City Hall Plaza on Monday night to wait for the parade to begin.

"I can't feel the cold," McCoy said. "There's love all around."
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