Boston ? Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and owner Robert Kraft hoisted twin Super Bowl trophies Tuesday while thousands of fans cheered amid showers of red, white and blue confetti.

“We’re baaack!” Brady told a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd at a rally at City Hall Plaza. He stood with Kraft, coach Bill Belichick and dozens of teammates celebrating the team’s second championship in three years.

“There was no way we were coming back out here without that Lombardi Trophy. And it’s back here where it should be, right here with you guys,” Brady, the Super Bowl MVP, told the screaming fans. “One was nice, two’s a lot nicer, but I need No. 3.”

Kraft and Belichick praised the players’ “no-stars” work ethic that led to 15 straight wins and Sunday’s 32-29 victory over the Carolina Panthers in Houston.

“For a team to accomplish their goals, everybody’s got to give up a little of their individuality, and that’s what these players did, and that’s why they’re champions,” Belichick said.

Kraft, Brady and Belichick did a victory dance for the crowd, egged on by All-Pro cornerback Ty Law and thunderous applause from the crowd.

A crowd estimate was not immediately available. An estimated 1.2 million fans attended the celebration of the Patriots’ 2002 Super Bowl victory.

Earlier, the Patriots rode down Boylston Street in amphibious vehicles, flanked in a parade by police on foot and motorcycles.

Thousands of revelers — some wearing face paint, wigs and Revolutionary-era militia outfits — began streaming into City Hall Plaza early Tuesday. By midday it was packed, and the crowd cheered as images from the parade were broadcast on huge screens.

Many more fans greeted the triumphant Patriots along the route. Spectators were stacked 10 deep along both sides of Tremont Street by Boston Common.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft shows off the Lombardi Trophy. The Patriots were honored with a victory celebration Tuesday in Boston.

Among them were high school students Sheila Gill and Dena Norton of Medfield. They hoped to get a glimpse of Brady and receiver Troy Brown.

“We skipped school, but we’ll do anything to support the Patriots,” Norton said.

Some fans near the Statehouse climbed atop the subway station entrances, but police pulled them down. Windows were open in buildings along the route, and people leaned out, waving banners.

Jason Scheinbart, of Burlington, Vt., standing in Copley Square, said attending the celebration was all in a day’s work for a “professional Patriots fan” who drives 550 miles round-trip to be at every home game.

“Now we’ve proven to them it wasn’t a fluke,” said Scheinbart, 34, referring to the first Super Bowl title. “Now every team in the world that wants to win the Super Bowl has to go through Foxboro, Massachusetts.”