There are 46 players in a Patriots’ uniform for any given game, but behind the scenes there are nearly 5,000 workers at Gillette Stadium making sure everything goes smoothly for the more than 66,000 fans filling the stands. We talked to a half-dozen of those workers to get a peek into their gameday routines.
Cheerleader
Gamedays sometimes seem easier than Karen Link’s hectic weekday schedule, which has her rushing from an early-morning workout to her fulltime PR job for a Boston tech firm and then to cheerleading practice at Gillette Stadium. Add in a team trainer and a nutritionist to give her year-round guidance and recommendations, and Link says she’s “set up for success” when she heads out to the field. The cheerleader, who started dancing at age 2 and overcame a broken spine in high school, passed a series of auditions and endured a two-week bootcamp to make the team in 2014. Now, she’s hooked on the sisterhood with her fellow cheerleaders: “I’ve formed some of the closest friendships I’ve ever had. We all keep in touch, some of us are roommates, and we attend each other’s birthdays, weddings and baby showers. It really is something special.”
5 hours till kickoff: Attend a full squad meeting at the stadium’s cheerleader building to discuss the day’s events.
4.5 hours till kickoff: Gameday practice begins. We do a long group stretch, run every end zone dance scheduled for the game and run every sideline dance or cheer that we have prepared for the game (usually at least 50). We also rehearse any obligations we have for special events planned for the game, such as holding field-sized flags for the Salute to Service game or forming a breast cancer awareness ribbon on the field with survivors.
2 hours till kickoff: After gameday practice concludes, we normally have an hour or so to have some down time. This is when we eat, do our hair and makeup, get in any final individual practice time and get dressed for the game.
1 hour till kickoff: After we are dressed and ready to go, we do a final group stretch, have our traditional Unity Circle—a pep talk with our director before the start of the game—and then hop on the golf carts and ride over to the stadium.
30 minutes till kickoff: We head onto the field, take our position on the sidelines and await our introduction.
15 minutes till kickoff: We dance our pregame routine, and then we form the player tunnel. The teams are then announced, the national anthem is performed, and then it’s finally show time.
Gametime: We perform four end zone dances during various breaks in the action. We also do shorter combinations that we perform between plays or during timeouts.
Team Players
Gillette's off-the-field MVPs share their gameday routines.
By Matt Martinelli | Photos courtesy of the New England Patriots / Eric J. Adler | Sept. 2, 2016
There are 46 players in a Patriots’ uniform for any given game, but behind the scenes there are nearly 5,000 workers at Gillette Stadium making sure everything goes smoothly for the more than 66,000 fans filling the stands. We talked to a half-dozen of those workers to get a peek into their gameday routines.
Karen Link
Cheerleader
Gamedays sometimes seem easier than Karen Link’s hectic weekday schedule, which has her rushing from an early-morning workout to her fulltime PR job for a Boston tech firm and then to cheerleading practice at Gillette Stadium. Add in a team trainer and a nutritionist to give her year-round guidance and recommendations, and Link says she’s “set up for success” when she heads out to the field. The cheerleader, who started dancing at age 2 and overcame a broken spine in high school, passed a series of auditions and endured a two-week bootcamp to make the team in 2014. Now, she’s hooked on the sisterhood with her fellow cheerleaders: “I’ve formed some of the closest friendships I’ve ever had. We all keep in touch, some of us are roommates, and we attend each other’s birthdays, weddings and baby showers. It really is something special.”
5 hours till kickoff: Attend a full squad meeting at the stadium’s cheerleader building to discuss the day’s events.
4.5 hours till kickoff: Gameday practice begins. We do a long group stretch, run every end zone dance scheduled for the game and run every sideline dance or cheer that we have prepared for the game (usually at least 50). We also rehearse any obligations we have for special events planned for the game, such as holding field-sized flags for the Salute to Service game or forming a breast cancer awareness ribbon on the field with survivors.
2 hours till kickoff: After gameday practice concludes, we normally have an hour or so to have some down time. This is when we eat, do our hair and makeup, get in any final individual practice time and get dressed for the game.
1 hour till kickoff: After we are dressed and ready to go, we do a final group stretch, have our traditional Unity Circle—a pep talk with our director before the start of the game—and then hop on the golf carts and ride over to the stadium.
30 minutes till kickoff: We head onto the field, take our position on the sidelines and await our introduction.
15 minutes till kickoff: We dance our pregame routine, and then we form the player tunnel. The teams are then announced, the national anthem is performed, and then it’s finally show time.
Gametime: We perform four end zone dances during various breaks in the action. We also do shorter combinations that we perform between plays or during timeouts.
By Matt Martinelli | Photos courtesy of the New England Patriots / Eric J. Adler
Michael Jurovaty
Assistant director of media relations
The path to his dream job wasn’t straightforward for Michael Jurovaty. After completing grad school and a couple of college internships, he was working as a real-estate broker in 2009 when he got a response to an inquiry to the Patriots. He scored an internship and eventually a fulltime media relations gig. Enjoying his job makes working long hours in sometimes-frigid temps easier (as does the spandex cold-weather compression gear he’s been known to wear under his suit). “They were my favorite team growing up, so I love knowing that every day when I get up in the morning, I get to head to work at Gillette Stadium,” he says. “I count my blessings knowing how many New Englanders would love to have this job.”
5 hours till kickoff: Arrive at the stadium and finish last-minute preparations for the game. Make sure my binder is organized with reference material, including game releases for teams, a pregame time script, flip cards and checklists.
4 hours till kickoff: Open the press box to media. Check in with pregame show TV crews on the field. For home games, I always meet WBZ-TV’s Dan Roche by the souvenir shop to deliver a flip card. It’s a tradition we’ve had since I started with the Pats.
2 hours till kickoff: Attend the pregame meeting with stadium security team and network TV staff.
1 hour till kickoff: Head to the field and assist with any last-minute pregame media needs from the TV network, sideline photographers and other on-field media. I am in direct contact with the PR staff in the press box and am responsible for relaying any injury information to the media during the game.
Halftime: Assist the TV network in coordinating a halftime interview with head coach Bill Belichick.
Postgame: Coordinate on-field postgame interviews with the TV and radio broadcast teams, then head to the locker room to assist with media availability and additional TV and radio interview requests. After the locker room is closed to the media, I return to the press box to proofread and distribute transcripts.
By Matt Martinelli | Photos courtesy of the New England Patriots / Eric J. Adler
Julie Griffin
Luxury suite manager
After getting a tip from a friend, Julie Griffin applied to a job opening at Gillette Stadium in 2002. She didn’t get that job, but a couple days later she got called back for a position on the stadium’s suite level. Nearly a decade and a half later, she’s managing 89 suites, a task that requires three pairs of shoes: pregame sneakers, gametime heels and postgame slippers. Despite walking almost a marathon’s worth of miles each gameday, she relishes the fast pace and the challenge of making every guest’s visit memorable, whether it’s with a scoreboard message, a celebratory cake or an on-field visit. “It’s like having company to your home,” Griffin says. “You want your guests to have a great time and look forward to returning.”
7 hours till kickoff: Check for last-minute menu changes, deliver packages to suites and walk through the suites, making sure everything is in place.
5.5 hours till kickoff: Meet with suite supervisors and other staff to discuss any special instructions. Walk through each suite to check if suite attendants need assistance.
3 hours till kickoff: Suites open, and I replace my sneakers with heels! As guests arrive, I visit suites and greet suite holders and their guests, noting any unexpected VIPs.
1.5 hours till kickoff: If I know in advance there’s a special guest attending the game, I can sometimes arrange for a field visit, so the guest can watch the team warm up, take some pictures and soak up the gameday environment.
Kickoff: It’s now a full house. I try to stop by the suites once again to say hello and ensure everything is running smoothly.
Midway though 2nd quarter: Prepare for halftime field visits. I usually try to pick up the group with a few minutes left in the second quarter so they get to see some of the game on the field level. You’re not going to get closer to the action!
Postgame: I’ve typically logged 20-25 miles. It’s time to put slippers on and drive home!
By Matt Martinelli | Photos courtesy of the New England Patriots / Eric J. Adler
Abigail Thelin
Director of event presentation
The only person calling more audibles than Tom Brady on gameday might be Abigail Thelin. The director of event presentation at Gillette since 2013, Thelin is in charge of a crew of 43—including eight camera operators, seven replay operators and several graphics and ribbon board operators—working out of a TV production truck. She follows a production script that even has the coin toss scheduled to the second, but sticking to it is always tough—especially, for example, if Bon Jovi’s in the house and they’ve got to play “Livin’ on a Prayer.” “Five minutes into the game once we get a feel for how it is going, I can pretty much tear it up because everything has changed.”
7 hours till kickoff: Arrive at the stadium an hour before the crew call so I can finalize the scripts.
5.5 hours till kickoff: Run through the script in a crew meeting and point out anything new. As the crew begins to load content and test systems, I troubleshoot issues as they arise. This is also when we enjoy a crew meal—I’m a sucker for the mac ’n’ cheese. Seriously, it’s so addictive!
2.5 hours till kickoff: National anthem sound check. My inner 10-year-old was ecstatic when Joey McIntyre from New Kids on the Block sang the anthem for us a few years ago. Other than the banner-raising ceremony, that might have been my favorite day of work!
2 hours till kickoff: Gates open. We have to make sure all our ribbon boards are fired up and our DJ is playing music.
1 hour till kickoff: Players start to trickle onto the field for warmups, and we begin live production, showing the players and fans on the videoboards. The hourlong warmup is sponsored, so we have to make sure we show live footage for at least 30 minutes.
20 minutes till kickoff: Pregame presentation begins. Everything from this point on is scripted down to the second. We have to abide by timing given us by the broadcast so that we line certain things up with their commercial breaks.
Kickoff: Execute everything in the script, making sure that we run all our sponsor elements as well as entertain and excite the fans.
Postgame: Meet for a quick debrief on any issues we ran into during the game.
By Matt Martinelli | Photos courtesy of the New England Patriots / Eric J. Adler
Bret Hartley
Director of concessions
Think it’s tricky figuring out what to serve your handful of friends when they come over to watch the game? Try serving more than 66,000. That’s Bret Hartley’s job as director of concessions at Gillette Stadium. This season, he’s also overseeing the addition of some new concession items, such as buffalo mac ’n’ cheese, steak ’n’ cheese French fries and a shredded short rib sandwich. Hartley got used to serving 42,000 fans as the concessions manager for the San Diego Padres, but he couldn’t turn down the chance to serve 20,000 more and move back home to New England in 2010. “The most challenging part … is anticipating their consumption,” Hartley says. “It is a team effort.”
10 hours till kickoff: Arrive at the stadium and check staffing sheets, making any adjustments. From there, it’s running through a list of duties: Make sure there’s enough product in the commissary, walk through the concession stands, review plans for the day and meet with concessions and club supervisors before their shifts.
2 hours till kickoff: Gates open, and I make sure all the stands have their shutters up and are ready for business. I troubleshoot any problems that arise and make sure that all products are available.
End of third quarter: Make sure beer concessions are shut down. And then—finally!—eat dinner.
Postgame: Close concessions stands and reconcile sales.
5 hours after the game: Head home.
By Matt Martinelli | Photos courtesy of the New England Patriots / Eric J. Adler
Tim Sullivan
Senior operations manager
Like everyone else who heads to Gillette Stadium for a Patriots game, Tim Sullivan is praying for 70 degrees and sunny. But it’s not just personal comfort that’s behind his weather wish. He manages more than 300 acres of parking lots outside Gillette, so icy roads or heavy rain can make coordinating parking for thousands of cars even more difficult. Sullivan is at the stadium rain or shine at 7 am on gamedays—and 5 am for a 1 pm game—and while he sometimes hops in a helicopter to better monitor the parking operation, it’s when he’s on the ground with the fans that he feels like he’s really in the action: “Many of them have the same routine every game and park in the same location, so you get to know them and talk with them every game.”
8 hours till kickoff: Brief supervisors on the day’s activities and review the VIP guest list.
6 hours till kickoff: Check in flaggers and cashiers.
5.5 hours till kickoff: Respond to employee no-shows, redeploying cashiers and supervisors to spots that need coverage.
5 hours till kickoff: Make sure all lots are set to be opened, staff is in place, credit card machines are working properly and everything is ready to go.
4 hours till kickoff: All parking lots are now open. During the next 4 hours, I drive around on my golf cart, responding to any issues that may arise, monitoring the lot capacities and working with state police to make sure all vehicles in the queue can park.
Kickoff: The goal is to have all cars parked prior to kickoff. We wait for all the tailgaters to make their way into the stadium before we take a break and watch the game.
Start of 4th quarter: Get the staff ready to direct cars to the exit.
Postgame: Make sure lots are exiting properly so everyone can get home safe.
2 hours after the game: Catch up with supervisors; get their feedback on the staff and any occurrences at the game.
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