Patriots Tote a Replica Lombardi Trophy to Bruins Game

This is what happens when views of your championship bling are in high demand.

 

The Vince Lombardi Trophy made an appearance at the Bruins game on Saturday evening in the hands of Bruins President Cam Neely, alongside Patriots players Rob Ninkovich and Rob Gronkowski. The cheery bunch looked right at home with their prize—which, at the time, may have come as an unwelcome surprise to hundreds of Patriots fans in Foxborough, who were waiting to take pictures with the shining beacon of victory.

For the diehard fans who made it through the snow and grueling six-hour lines at The Hall at Patriot Place this weekend, don’t despair. The Lombardi Trophy that the Pats earned at Super Bowl XLIX was still enduring its three-day photo opp in Foxborough during Gronk’s epic puck spike and the Bruins’ 2-1 win against the Islanders. In fact, all four of the Patriots’ Lombardi Trophies were in place at The Hall.

So, what was Neely cradling at the Garden? As it turns out, players and staff were posing with a replica of the Super Bowl XXXIX trophy that the organization brought to “symbolize the recent achievement,” according to Stacey James, the Patriots VP of Media Relations. The replica trophy is engraved with information from the Patriots’ 2005 win over the Eagles.

“We received the offer to attend the Bruins game after we had already advertised the viewing at The Hall. I told my counterpart at the Bruins about the trophy commitment at The Hall and offered to either come to the Bruins game without a trophy or we could bring another one to symbolize the recent achievement,” James said. “We agreed to bring a replica of the Super Bowl XXXIX trophy and it was used before and after the game for our players to take photos with the trophy and to share with some of the Bruins players and staff after the game. That trophy is engraved with a date and opponent and was explained to all who asked as to why we were unable to bring the most recent trophy.”

The newest addition to the showcase has yet to make its way to Tiffany & Co. for final engraving. As of now, it bears the trophy name, NFL logo, Super Bowl number, and the words “AFC vs NFC.” The shiny XLIX memento was scheduled to be sent to Tiffany for game score inscriptions at the end of last week, but the Patriots organization kept it for the viewing over the weekend at The Hall and for some possible trophy tour commitments early this week that have been postponed due to—you guessed it—winter weather. 

The Vince Lombardi Trophy going back to Boston!!! #patsnation #revisisland

A photo posted by @darrellerevis24 on