Despite the New England Patriots not participating in the
2021 Super Bowl, a team plane of the club has made its way to Tampa for the
event, carrying 76 healthcare workers from across the six New England states
from Boston as honorary guests for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic, as
per various media reports.

Reportedly, one of the team’s ‘AirKraft’ planes took off
from the Logan International Airport on Sunday shortly after 9:40 am, landing
in Tampa before 1:30 pm.

Also read: On Super Bowl night, Tampa sports bar offers free COVID-19 tests

A total of approximately 7,500 healthcare workers from
around the country were present for the 2021 Super Bowl as honorary
guests.

The Patriots entourage was escorted by the police from
Gillette Stadium to the Logan Airport, as well as getting a short celebratory greeting
and a send-off by the club’s president Jonathan Kraft, Massachusetts Governor
Charlie Baker as well as the captain of the Patriots Special team, Matthew
Slater.

“Honestly, when you think about some of those great Patriots
slogans, ‘Do your job’ and ‘No days off,’ there’s probably no group over the
course of this pandemic who has demonstrated that more day after day after day
than our health care workers,” Baker was quoted as saying.

Also read: Sarah Thomas: The first woman to officiate a Super Bowl

“We’re so excited. Everyone is so pumped to be at the
Super Bowl,” Jessica Tellier, a nurse at the Emerson hospital, said.

Upon de-boarding in Tampa, Florida the group was greeted by the
owner of the club, Robert Kraft, who had earlier made a surprise announcement
regarding the trip to the healthcare professionals on Zoom.

The team became the first side in the NFL to have their own
jets in 2017 when they bought two Boeing 767s.