'It’s an honor bringing in a fan’s voice': Worcester native Tony Lapolito relates Patriots experience to 'The Dynasty'

Tony Lapolito has been a New England Patriots season ticket-holder since 1993, he has been at six of the team’s Super Bowl appearances and, from his end zone seat in Section 13, Row 9 at Foxboro Stadium, had perfect perspective of Adam Vinatieri’s tying field goal in the famous Snow Bowl.

The 59-year-old Lapolito’s collection of Patriots memorabilia includes a photo of him amid the swirling confetti in Houston, celebrating New England’s fifth title at Super Bowl LI (the “28-3” game), another of him touching the Vince Lombardi Trophy as former vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli raised it after Super Bowl XXXIX, a Super Bowl XXXVI replica trophy, and remnants of an air freshener from the old stadium’s South end zone men’s bathroom.

When one of Lapolito’s former colleagues found out that his niece was a production assistant on the Apple TV+ docuseries, “The Dynasty: New England Patriots,” and was looking for fans to interview for the project, he told her, “I know the guy for you.”

In April, Lapolito, who grew up in Worcester and lives in Grafton, where he and his wife, Liz, raised their kids, Isabella and Frankie, received a call at work from one of the producers of “The Dynasty.” They did a one-hour pre-interview on the phone, and the next day, Lapolito went to a sound stage in Brighton for filming.

During the 2½-hour session, producers asked Lapolito about his fandom with the Patriots and key moments in the team’s history. He talked about his lifelong “Walter Mitty” experience with the team, and he brought all of those Patriots relics, too.

“The Dynasty,” which chronicles the 20-year run of the Patriots during the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick-Robert Kraft era, premiered Feb. 16. About six minutes into the first of the documentary’s 10 episodes, Lapolito talks for a few seconds about former Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe, calling him, “the whole package.”

Family and friends excitedly texted Lapolito photos and videos of him on their TVs.

During filming, Lapolito chronicled the night of the Snow Bowl, which included the roller-coaster ride of the “Tuck Rule,” and Vinatieri’s franchise-changing kicks, as well as being in Section 601 of the Superdome, again, right between the uprights, for Vinatieri’s winning field goal in Super Bowl XXXVI.

“We knew it was straight enough, we knew it was long enough, we knew we were Super Bowl champs,” Lapolito said.

“They dropped that quote,” Lapolito said with a laugh, “and I thought that was my best one.

“What I was naïve about,” Lapolito added, “is I thought they would allow me to be the voiceover for some of these key moments.”

Lapolito, who works in financial tech, also spoke of the day in 1993, when he and his friends were at the airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on their way home from vacation, and he saw former Patriots owner James Orthwein and Bill Parcells walking through the terminal together.

“I told them, ‘We’re getting the Tuna!’ ” Lapolito said, “‘and I’m getting season tickets.”

That story didn’t make the cut, either.

When Lapolito, whose season tickets are now in Section 216 of Gillette Stadium, left filming back in April, he asked producers what his chances were of being in the documentary.

“They said, ‘We’re pretty confident you’re going to make it,’” Lapolito said, ‘“because you have the combination of longevity, being in all the right places at the right time, and the ability to tell stories like an Italian.’”

Five days before “The Dynasty” dropped, Apple revealed a contributors list for the docuseries. When Lapolito saw his name in the fan section, listed right after Jon Bon Jovi, he knew he had made it.

Lapolito was not in episodes 2, 3 or 4, and he doesn’t know if he will be in episodes 5-10, but he does have an IMDb page now.

“The Dynasty” is not Lapolito’s first brush with national fame.

In 2004, Lapolito appeared in a Sports Illustrated photo taken during the Red Sox’ 19-8 loss to the Yankees in Game 3 of the ALCS. The shot showed him and other fans sitting dejectedly behind the Sox dugout. The Red Sox, of course, went on to win the World Series, their first in 86 years. Lapolito was at Game 2 at Fenway Park.

Later that season, Lapolito was in Jacksonville, Florida, cheering the Patriots to victory in Super Bowl XXXIX.

Lapolito doesn’t typically wear logoed Patriots gear. Instead, an old, worn, ratty plaid is his lucky Patriots shirt. Of course, that’s what he put on for filming.

“(My wife) Liz said, ‘“Absolutely not. Don’t you dare,’” Lapolito said.

In the documentary, Lapolito wears a blue, quarter-zip pullover sweater, but the collar of the infamous lucky shirt is visible underneath.

“That ratty shirt is part of the story,” Lapolito said.

Lapolito thinks the first four episodes of “The Dynasty” are excellent.

“I think it’s amazing,” he said. “I’ve always said (the Patriots’ story) has been somewhat Shakespearean, with all the twists and turns, from Parcells buying the groceries to Belichick leaving, the Super Bowl wins and losses, Spygate, Deflategate, Brady’s knee, (Aaron) Hernandez, and when you’re living it, you lose a little bit of that perspective. Getting the chance to live it again through ‘The Dynasty,’ you appreciate the full magnitude of the epic that we lived, and I appreciate the opportunity to be in this. It’s an honor bringing in a fan’s voice.

“On my bucket list,” Lapolito said, “I always wanted to be the guy in a Worcester-like barroom nursing a Bud Light as they filmed a movie scene, so to get a speaking role in the definitive history of the Patriots is just beyond unbelievable in terms of checking off a bucket list.”

—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @JenTolandTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester native Tony Lapolito relates Patriots superfan experience to 'The Dynasty'