The New England Patriots will have a moment of silence in honour of slain American yeshiva student Ezra Schwartz prior to their “Monday Night Football” game against the Buffalo Bills.
The Patriots’ front office confirmed the tribute to JTA on Monday morning, the day of the game.
Schwartz, 18, a resident of suburban Boston, was killed Thursday in a Palestinian terror attack in the West Bank.
At his funeral on Sunday, mourners learned that Schwartz was a diehard Patriots’ fan, like the rest of his family. Some 1,000 mourners attended the funeral in Sharon, Massachusetts, and over 7,000 viewed it live over the Internet.
The family recently watched a Patriots’ game on the Internet with Schwartz while he was spending a year studying in Israel. When the teen lost the link, one of his three brothers held the phone up to the television so they could catch the rest of the game together.
The Schwartzes hometown of Sharon borders Foxboro, the site of the Patriots’ Gillette Stadium.
Robert Kraft, a Jewish philanthropist, owns the Patriots, the defending Super Bowl champions.