Scotland's Tartan Army gains two new members in Boston: Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski

Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald on Jun 19, 2026

Published in Soccer

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BOSTON — The Tartan Army has had such an impressive showing in Boston that a pair of Patriots legends wanted to join in on the Scottish party.

Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski, wearing Scottish kilts, paraded through the Boston Common and Public Garden with the Tartan Army, hours before Scotland took to the field in Foxboro Friday evening against Morocco.

The Patriots’ legendary wide receiver and tight end, now analysts with FOX Sports, chatted with the Scots and took pictures with scores of fans.

They even watched two members of the Tartan Army top the head of the George Washington Statue with a bright orange traffic cone – a signature action of the energetic fan base.

A Boston police officer near the scene was heard saying, “Hey, there’s only one of me, I’m not going to say you can, I’m not going to say you can’t,” before the fans proceeded with the cone-topping.

At the beginning of a segment on FOX Sports, Gronkowski corrected Edelman, saying that the number of Scots neared 20,000, not 15,000.

Edelman said the Tartan Army invasion gave them fomo, a fear of missing out.

“So we have a little surprise,” the Patriots Hall of Famer said. After the camera zoomed out, a Scottish man was seen playing the bagpipes, with Edelman and Gronk wearing kilts.

“We wanted to join the fun,” Edelman said. “We heard that they drank Boston under the table. Rob, when’s the last time that happened?”

“Yes, they drank the city dry over the last week,” Gronkowski responded, “and the last time that it happened was after we won the Super Bowl in 2015. … This is the second time in 12 years that the city of Boston has been drinking dry. Congratulations to the Scotland army, the Tartan Army!”

“They are absolutely fabulous,” the legendary tight end added of the Scots. “They are sloppy, but a respected sloppy fan base. … I love them so much.”