Msgr. Foley: A priest for the Patriots for 27 years

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

As the New England Patriots head to the Super Bowl Sunday, a Worcester Diocesan priest is thinking about the team as good men he’s come to know, and spiritual lessons he’s gained – and shared – as a result.
“I’ve been with them 27 years,” Msgr. Michael G. Foley told The Catholic Free Press during an impromptu visit to the office recently. “I work mostly with coaches now. … I’m in my 70s – I’m more like their fathers’ age.”
The pastor of St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Westborough is not the Patriots’ chaplain. “They have a chaplain who’s paid – Jack Easterby,” he explained. “He’s a good guy.
“I say Mass before their home games, usually at the hotel. … The reason I’ve been doing it a long time – they trust me. I get some good homilies out of it.”
He told about a homily that sprang from a time when he watched a tape of a game he had watched live. The second time around he watched it differently because he knew the outcome.
“That’s our life as disciples,” he said. “We know the result. The victory’s won. Your attitude is so different.”
Msgr. Foley said he gets to a few games, but has often given away his tickets; it can be easier watching closer to indoor comforts.
On Super Bowl Sunday he has plans with family in Ottawa Lake, Mich., – not the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis where the Patriots face the Philadelphia Eagles.
He has deep admiration for the Patriots and what they have been able to accomplish.
“No team in the NFL should win like the Patriots,” Msgr. Foley said, because every team has the same amount of money to spend – unlike with professional baseball.
The National Football League aims for parity. Their rules specify that if a team wins the Superbowl it goes to the end of the line during the drafting process for the next season. That means teams with the worst records get a chance to draft the best available players before teams with better records.
“Why are the Patriots so successful?” he asked. He said people say they cheat, but he disagrees.
“They’re a very ethical team,” he said. “I think the Patriots are so successful because they put together a team of people who are hardworking and intelligent. Don’t believe the hype” – bad or good. “You have to deal with what’s really there. … It’s not about stars. … It’s a scientific game … more so than other sports. … They work, probably harder than most.” He said Tom Brady’s strongest attribute is his brilliance, and he praised the team members as having maturity, dedication and teamwork.
Msgr. Foley also talked about their goodness being manifested other ways.
“Their outreach is very legitmate,” he said. “They care about their fans. I don’t see them as celebrities. …
“You very, very seldom hear a former Patriot badmouth opponents. I think the sense is, you’re treated fairly. You’re never rewarded for what you’ve done, only for what you’re going to do.”
When it was hinted that there might be a rivalry between him and Father John F. Madden, pastor of St. John Parish in Worcester, a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, Msgr. Foley smiled and said simply, “I was pastor of St. John’s. I like Pittsburgh.”
He went on to tell of a time when he was pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Milford and two buses pulled up, filled with Buffalo fans, in the area for a Patriots v. Bills game at Foxborough.  The went to Mass and, Msgr. Foley said, “we had a great time.”
Asked about his own sports history, he said, “I played some baseball. (He was an infielder.) I was All-City a couple times. …They couldn’t get my uniform clean. I was always diving in the dirt.”
Msgr. Foley said he played basketball in the CYC league for his parish, Ascension in Worcester, which was more recently merged with St. John’s.
But sports wasn’t his whole life.
“I went out for debating,” he said, indicating that he did so because he feared public speaking and was considering the priesthood.