It may be cold here in New England as winter runs its course, but in Arizona it’s hot—really hot—especially in Phoenix, where Super Bowl hype is building to a fever pitch. All eyes will be on Arizona Sunday, as the Patriots take their sixth turn in the Super Bowl, looking for their fourth win, and poised to set records likely to endure for years. Ecstatic New England fans are sure the Pats will go all the way. (But not so sure that Tom Brady’s relatively minor ankle injury isn’t a big story on every major New England news station.)

Fans want to see another Patriots win, and they want it bad. They want another taste of that excitement they felt after the team’s Super Bowl win in 2002, when Brady, caught on camera, turned to Drew Bledsoe and yelled (with the enthusiasm of a little kid), “We won! We won!” And who can forget that first victory parade through downtown Boston?

Throughout all the glory that has been heaped on the team in the last six years, Patriots players have maintained their modesty—never boastful (when they certainly had the opportunity to be), always focusing on the next game, putting the good of the team above individuals, and always having positive things to say about their opponents, both before and after the games. They aren’t perfect—they are human, after all. But they are the best example we’ve seen in recent years of sports heroes worthy of the label “role model.” Whether they win or lose Sunday, they are a team for the record books.

Go Pats!