If the New England Patriots are playing, you can find Maureen Buckley-Walsh at Goat City Pub in Norton. She always sits at the corner of the bar, decked out in Patriots gear with her megaphone and noise clappers. She’s been doing the same thing for over a decade.
“I love the Patriots, I’ve been going [to games] since the ‘70s and ‘80s when they were horrible,” said Buckley-Walsh, wearing a t-shirt that says “Ready, Willing and Vrabel,” a nod to the Patriots head coach. “And I would party before, after, during, and then wake up the next day not feeling so well … Now I’d rather be in a warm, cozy place.”
Over the years, she’s collected a cozy crew around her — a couple dozen other super fans who frequent the Goat during football season. The group, like Buckley-Walsh, have watched the team through winning seasons and disappointing losses. And they’re especially excited to watch the Patriots play in the Super Bowl this Sunday for the first time since 2019. They’ll be at the Goat, of course.
“The love of the Patriots brings everybody together,” said patron Jo-Anne Cutillo. “It’s just a wonderful friendship that you bond with all these people that are wishing for the same thing.”
Breanne Silvi, who owns Goat City Pub with her husband, said you couldn’t ask for a better group of regulars.
“These people, they’re not just patrons, they’re friends, they’re family, some of them are neighbors,” she said. “You love coming in because it doesn’t feel like I’m coming into work.”
Many in the group have been meeting in the pub, under different names and ownership, for years. Buckley-Walsh, or “Auntie Moe” as the group calls her, is considered the unofficial mayor of the crew. (Asked about her age, she demurs but says she’s “not quite 80 for Brady.“) She leads them on game days — a major event at the Goat. Regulars wait in line outside before the bar opens to get their seats.
“We have stood in line in rain, snow, sleet,” Cutillo said.
Some have claimed those seats for years, all in the name of good luck. But that’s not their only superstition. Many of them wear the same clothes game after game. Like Buckley-Walsh in her Patriots pajamas.
“I’ve worn this every day for the last month,” Buckley-Walsh said. “I wash them and then go back out. I have to wear the same thing ’cause they’ve been winning every week.”
Buckley-Walsh has another game day tradition: her paper Patriots cocktail napkins.
“I buy napkins every year [and] I pass them out at the bar,” she explained. “If we win, I collect them all back and bring them back the next week and only give them to the same people.”
The napkins get thrown out if the team loses, because nobody wants that energy around for the next game. This year, as the Patriots went 14-3 in the regular season, few of those napkins ended up in the trash.
One person who never misses the napkin distribution is Marie Sweatt. She says her house is decorated in Patriots gear year round, so she comes decked out in some of that swag each week. On this particular day, she’s wearing a Patriots watch, bracelet, earrings and necklace.
Sweatt says she’s always loved the Pats.
“ I’m kind of a crazy person with my teams. It’s only my New England sports teams that I root for,” she said.
Pete Stevens and his daughter, Leah, have been watching the Patriots together for decades. Leah said she learned football for the opportunity to connect with her dad. The two of them have made the Goat their game day spot for years now.
“I’ve had exes who actually didn’t understand it,” Leah Stevens said. “They’re like, ‘Oh, come on, it’s Sunday. Like, what’s one day?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, no, sorry. I’m going to hang out with my dad.’ ”
There have been good years and bad for the Patriots fans at the Goat. The team has won six Super Bowls, tied for the most in NFL history. The dynasty years began in 2001 and continued through 2019, thanks to quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick. After Brady left the team in 2020, that run came to an abrupt halt. The last two seasons the Pats were one of the worst teams in the NFL.
But this season is different. The credit goes in large part to new Pats quarterback Drake Maye and former Patriots player-turned-coach Mike Vrabel.
“I’m very happy with the way the team has come together,” Buckley-Walsh said. “I just think the team is amazing and I’m just happy for them.”
Gillette Stadium is just a 20 minute drive away, and for many people, a seat in the stands watching the action live is where they want to be. Not for John and Joanie Dower, also regulars at the pub, who have been watching the Pats together for decades. They’ve held season tickets in Foxboro but now prefer watching the games here.
“I’ve never really noticed what the rest of the restaurant is doing while we’re hooting and hollering over here, but we don’t care. We have fun,” John Dower said.
Mary Milke said she did go to a game this season at Gillette Stadium. It was fun, but she realized something.
“We’d rather watch it at Goat,” Milke said. “It was just more fun.”
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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