BOSTON (AP) >> Giddy fans of the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots chanted “Brady! Brady!” and clambered atop massive snowbanks for better views as players danced and waved their way through Boston in a Wednesday parade celebrating their fourth NFL title.
Well-wishers blew kisses, pumped their fists and screamed themselves hoarse from behind barriers as the team rolled through downtown aboard the World War II-style amphibious “duck boat” vehicles that have become a staple of the city’s championship parades.
Some fans defied police warnings and climbed on giant piles of snow left from last week’s blizzard to get a glimpse of quarterback Tom Brady, coach Bill Belichick and other players and their wives and girlfriends as a truck blew plumes of confetti into the air.
The crowd roared as a smiling Belichick and his players snapped selfies and took turns waving the Lombardi trophy. Dozens of police officers on foot secured the convoy as it rolled down Boylston Street and past the finish line of the Boston Marathon, where two bombs killed three people and wounded more than 260 others in 2013.
Fans sported No. 12 Brady jerseys, shouted the MVP’s name and held “We are the CHAMPIONS” placards. One had a sign that read: “Belichick for President.”
A beaming Brady held his young son, Benjamin, who grinned and waved to the crowd.
Sunday’s 28-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks was New England’s fourth championship and their first in a decade, and that brought exuberant fans out into the winter chill.