COUNTY-FAIR

Feeling empty inside

Patriot Place, Gillette Stadium quiet as Patriots win season opener

Jenna Manto
The Patriot Ledger
James Karvities and Julia Tierpak walk through an empty upper level of Patriot Place before the season opener. The Patriots played the Miami Dolphin in the 2020 season opener at Gillette Stadium.

FOXBOROUGH — “I just had to be here on opening morning,” said Tim Fogarty, one of the handfuls of fans that congregated around Patriot Place Sunday morning as New England kicked off its season against AFC East rival Miami.

Fogarty, who is originally from Rhode Island but now resides in Falls Church, Virginia, has been a Patriots season ticket holder for over 30 years and goes to at least one away game every year.

“It feels horrible,” Fogarty said. “I want to be on that side. And if they allowed fans, I’d be one of them in there. I have no problem.”

The Baker administration announced last month that Gillette Stadium must remain devoid of fans at least through the end of September.

An eerie feeling washed over many of the dedicated fans who couldn’t stay away from a game the Patriots eventually won, 21-11, behind two rushing touchdowns from new quarterback Cam Newton.

Norton residents Gary and Debbie Cameron came to meet friends at Davios. The couple has held season tickets for 42 years and said that this year Patriot Place looked like a “ghost town.”

“It seems extremely strange,” Debbie Cameron said. “This place is so quiet.”

Welcome to COVID-era football. Instead of 66,000 people flooding the stadium, there were handfuls of small groups popping up around Patriot Place. No traffic inching along Route 1; no fans in the stands roaring while Ozzy Osbourne's “Crazy Train” - the Pats' entrance song - blasts from the sound system; and no tailgating to be found. Gillette Stadium was one of 12 venues devoid of fans for Sunday's NFL home openers.

Many season ticket holders were decked out in Patriots gear head to toe — some even sporting Patriots-themed face masks.

Others came early to make a stop at the Patriots ProShop to pick up a new hat or jerseys for their children. A few families stopped to throw a football around on the turf outside the ProShop, or change their toddlers into brand new Patriots shirts.

Although no tailgating was allowed, many tried to make the best of it by hanging around Patriot Place and soaking in the sunny September day.

Clucia Fowlkes came from Billerica with her friend who came down from Nashua, New Hampshire, and said she plans to stay for the day. The two are season ticket holders and have attended every opening day game since 2013.

“It’s empty,” Fowlkes said. “We didn’t tailgate, it’s empty, but it’s still better than nothing.”

The pair also went to the Super Bowl in 2017 in Houston and 2019 in Atlanta.

While Rte. 1 is typically packed with traffic, this year there was no line getting into Patriot Place.

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Lisa Russell, from Weymouth, came over to Gillette with her family to take a photo of her son and nephew in front of the stadium, after visiting the Jurassic Quest Drive-Thru experience across from Gillette.

“This is crazy,” Russell said. “I mean this is just crazy. I said, we were pulling onto Rte. 1 and there’s no one around and I look at the players and you just want to yell and be like, ‘We’re here watching!’”

Originally from Boston, Bill Wimberly came up from New Jersey to show his support. He visited last year for the games against the Dallas Cowboys and the Tennessee Titans and saw Superbowl 53 in Atlanta, where the Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams, 13-3.

“I just want to come up, support,” Wimberly said. “It’s the first game — can’t be inside but you’re still here.”

Theresa and Andy Harmon came with their two kids, Dylan, 2, and Milo, 7, from Plymouth to scope out the scene at Patriot Place and visit the Jurassic Quest Drive-Thru.

“This would’ve been four years in a row that me and Milo came to the last pre-season game, but since they didn’t have it this year we skipped,” Andy Harmon said.

As it got closer to game time, fans in Edelman, Newton, and even one Brady jersey, filled the outdoor patios at CBS Sporting Club and Red Robin, which both have direct views of the Stadium. Bar Louie and Citizen Crust also had busy patios with the game playing on multiple TVs throughout the outdoor space at the latter restaurant.

Security tried to keep crowds from congregating in the outdoor space that overlooks Gillette between Red Robin and the Cross Pavilion as it got closer to 1 p.m., although some families were able to go up and take photos and wave to Pat The Patriot who was waving to fans from inside the Stadium.

Lisa Russell and her husband Tom, of Weymouth, watch as their son Rex and nephew Hunter chase down a football on the Patriots logo in the usually fan packed Patriot Place just outside the pro shop on Sunday afternoon. There was not much of a crowd as the Patriots kicked-off their season inside Gillette Stadium.