Patriots Surprise Local Youth Coach With Super Bowl Tickets

Mick Brunache thought he just gotten to Gillette Stadium early. The New England Patriots Foundation had emailed the youth football coach, inviting him to a roundtable of community leaders. No one was there when he arrived.

Turns out, he was right on time.

Brunache was surprised to see Patriots tight end Hunter Henry offering him two tickets to Super Bowl LX. Brunache -- and his 14-year-old son, who he's taking to the game -- couldn't believe that it was real.

"He didn't believe me," Brunache told Patriots on SI. "I had showed him the pictures and then he was like, 'Daddy, you're joking.' I'm like, 'dude, look at these pictures. Look at my name on the Jumbotron.' ... I hope that also inspired him too, like your dad's pretty cool. I'm the man."

Brunache is one of the many coaches for the Mattapan Patriots, a youth football program in Mattapan, Massachusetts. While he wanted to be a coach to help kids better their football skills, he also wanted to instill important life lessons as well.

That's why he created the NXT Era Panthers. A year-round non-profit program, the goal of NXT Era is to help mentor and teach kids from underrepresented areas of the state in all aspects of life. Whether it's preparing for a job interview, practicing hygiene, or just having a fatherly figure to lean on, Brunache takes on many roles in the process of bettering his community.

"When I first started, the program started with 20 kids, and I grew the program up to about 150 kids," Brunache said. "So within 150 kids, we have kids that's going into (Independent School League) schools, that's going to Catholic schools, and now we have a big batch of kids that now enter into freshman year of college. The biggest thing for us was to make sure that these kids understood that there are big gateways for education and character building."

Mick Brunache created the NXT Era Panthers to help inspire and teach the next generation of football stars in Massachusetts. | Contributed by Mick Brunache

Brunache knew he wanted to help his community. After all, he said what's the point of saying you want to further your community if you aren't willing to put the work in?

"I was sitting down and riding through the neighborhood, and I realized that we can't want more for our community if we don't involve ourselves in our community," Brunache said. "I can't say I want a better community, a better neighborhood, if I'm not involved. ... You can't judge kids and say, 'Oh, this kid is misguided.' Instead, I put my boots on, and I need to figure out how I could add value to these kids. So that's what I started doing."

Paved by his Haitian roots, Brunache strives to be a father for all, for those with a father and those without. In the process, he hopes to help foster a community of violence prevention. Football isn't always the ultimate goal, he says. Instead, it's the gateway to help steer kids into successful adults, and that's what Brunache takes pride in.

Brunache Hopes To Be A Difference Maker In Massachusetts

He said that he doesn't do the coaching and mentorship for the public recognition, but was floored and appreciative when he was the one getting recognized. With Henry out of the field with his oversized ticket, it hit Brunache -- he was heading to the Super Bowl.

"I was shocked. I was ecstatic because I do so much in the community, I do so much for so much families and children that I don't know what it feels like to be poured in with so much love, you know," Brunache said. "And the Pats gave me a feeling, a very, very rare feeling, and a grateful feeling, because I'm the one that's used to doing the work and doing for others. For an organization to do that for me, I can't even explain the feeling. I feel amazing. Honestly, it wasn't about the Super Bowl tickets. To be recognized feels very, very great. It feels amazing."

Mick Brunache holding up a championship trophy with his NXT Era Panthers flag football program. | Contributed by Mick Brunache

What makes this surprise even more special is that Brunache's always been a Patriots fan. His favorite players -- he mentioned Willie McGinest, Ty Law and Rodney Harrison -- were all on some of the best New England defenses of all time.

Now, he'll be able to watch what he hopes is the current-day Patriots win a trophy and create their own legacy.

"I just love the Patriots organization, period, because they're just so amazing," Brunache said. "But more importantly is when I sent my father pictures for him to tell me how proud he is of me. That meant a lot to me because my father's my hero."

The Patriots haven't officially clinched a berth in the big game -- they still need to do business against the Denver Broncos in the AFC championship first -- but Brunache says that it would be a total dream come true to watch his favorite team win it all live.

"That's the million, billion dollar dream," Brunache said. "The Patriots going down and getting to a Super Bowl and winning the Super Bowl, and I get to witness it live. Oh man, it's like a fairy tale story."

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