The road to Super Bowl 60 is starting to feel less like a highway and more like a tightrope, and in January, every step somehow feels heavier. The tackles sound louder. The scores evermore so. And just before the game begins, there’s that collective inhale, the kind of quiet that settles over a stadium right before the first note of the national anthem rises into the cold air.
Who Will Perform the National Anthem at the Patriots-Texans Game?
This weekend, that feeling finds its way to Foxborough, Massachusetts, where the New England Patriots welcome the Houston Texans for an AFC Divisional Round showdown. The Texans will come into the game with the Wild Card win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, while the Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Chargers.
And before the first snap, before the nerves turn into noise, a familiar local voice will be singing the national anthem.
That voice belongs to Fran Rogers, a Franklin-based tenor who has quietly become part of the DNA of Boston sports, according to WPRI. If you’ve been to a Patriots, Boston Red Sox, or Boston Celtics game in the last decade, there’s a good chance you’ve already heard him.
Rogers has been performing the national anthem for Boston’s teams since 2012, and over the years, his presence has shifted from guest performer to something closer to a trusted tradition.
He’s sung for packed houses at Fenway Park, for roaring crowds at the TD Garden, and for the kind of moments that feel heavier, like playoff games, rivalry nights, and championship-clinching afternoons. This Sunday’s Divisional Round game is another of those moments, and one he describes as a tremendous honor.
Though he now lives in Franklin, Massachusetts, Rogers’ roots stretch into Rhode Island, where much of his family is from.
Outside sports, Rogers is an accomplished and critically praised opera tenor. Reviewers have called his voice “luscious” and “remarkably agile,” noting his ability to reach high notes with an ease that feels almost unfair. His stage work includes roles such as Rodolfo in “Puccini’s La Boheme,” Don Jose in “The Tragedy of Carmen,” and Ruggero in “La Rondine.”
He has performed at Boston Symphony Hall and at Tanglewood with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He’s also studied with some of the best in the business, including legendary soprano Deborah Voigt and conductor Mark Oswald, sharpening his ability to carry both a melody and a moment.
And the chaos, of course, will be worth watching.
