There was a time when Boston sports fans expected every season to end with a championship parade. Since the turn of the century, the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, and Bruins have combined for 13 of those, nearly half of them coming from New England's Tom Brady-Bill Belichick dynasty.
Those happy times have turned sour in recent years, as the 2023-24 Celtics have raised Boston's lone championship banner since Brady left New England for Tampa Bay after the 2019 season.
But thanks to Drake Maye and this new band of Patriots, hope is springing eternal for fans throughout the region, and Maye, Mike Vrabel, and company may be giving New England its best chance at optimism.