Danke, Deutschland: Patriots fans travel near and far to welcome New England with home game

The Patriots strategically partnered with the German national soccer team, practicing at the DFB’s state-of-the-art training facilities and hosting a flag football game with children. Introducing the game to school children was part of a five-year plan the team had to submit detailing how they’d grow the sport in Germany.

As it is in New England, community building was an important part of that push overseas.

The Thursday leading up to the game, Vollmer accompanied Kraft Sports + Entertainment CMO Jen Ferron to a shelter as part of that collaboration with DFB, with the organizations coming together to donate Empowerment sleeping bag coats.

It’s a cause important to Germany, and the Patriots are committed to the country in a way that’s about much more than brand building.

“When we came here to the DACH region, we’re making this our home,” Vollmer said. “That means bringing the same values that the Krafts instill in every player who becomes part of the organization. You have to carry it over.”

With all the work the Patriots have been doing to continue growth abroad, its fans are helping them with that mission.

“Football is family,” Sima said, when asked what draws Germans to the sport. “That’s being lived here and I love it so much.”

A game was going to be played at Duetsche Bank Park on Sunday, but connection is what drew so many to Frankfurt.

The NFL experience had taken over the Rossmarkt Square and Hauptwache Plaza in the center of downtown. Soaking it all up on Saturday were a group of four women – a pair of best friends and their daughters – reunited for the occasion.

“Paola (Rode) was an oncologist at Leahy Hospital in Burlington, Mass. and I was the manager of the cancer center,” said Jacqueline Broms, who was born in Germany but now resides on the North Shore of Massachusetts.

“We’re best friends, and she was my oncologist, and these are our daughters, who are now best friends.”

Rode now lives in Germany with her husband. When the Patriots game was announced, the women tried relentlessly to secure seats and get together for the first time in a year.

“I woke up at 3 a.m. to try and get tickets,” said Broms’ daughter, Caroline. “I sat in a million-person queue and didn’t get them. I continued to try every week, and we eventually got tickets.”

The timing couldn’t be better for the two women who have become family.

“I was just diagnosed with breast cancer a week ago, so it’s very special to be together,” Rode said. “We caught it early, so it’s good news, and this is amazingly special.

Her daughter, Hannah, interjected: “It’s nice that they came here, because they’ve been through this before together.”

For them, it was all about coming together to love and support each other as women, celebrating Boston, the city that brought them together, and Germany, the country that allowed this important reunion.

Like all the fans who shared their stories, they were grateful for the Patriots.

That’s why, despite a 2-7 record leading into the game, fans flocked to Frankfurt by the thousands to show how much the team means to them.

The result brought a playoff-type vibe to the stadium, with the fans making it feel like the most supportive home crowd New England played in front of all season, appreciative that the Patriots had finally come to them.

Before the game, one of 14 German fan clubs organized a fan march to the stadium, a tradition for the supporters of European soccer teams. While the hope was to see participation from a few hundred people, thousands showed up to support, following a marching band through the streets to the train.

The display showed that win or lose, the fan base in Germany is as loyal and proud as any, even after a loss to the Colts.

Fortunately, this is not the end for Patriots Deutschland. That march is just beginning.