Well done, New England.

Army-Navy week was a smashing success in every possible way. Players, coaches, PR staff members, athletic directors and other folks with ties to either academy that we spoke with or that spoke after the game had nothing but glowing things to say about their experience this week.

Given the slightly important fact that the United States of America started here, there’s no reason why Foxborough and the region itself shouldn’t be in the rotation along with Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, and New York moving forward. The game is already planned out four years ahead of time, but when the decision needs to be made for the 2028 game, The Krafts and New England earned the right to be a regular host.

Plus, logistically, it’s relatively easy to make this a regular landing spot for the event that was truly spectacular.

Army Athletic Director Mike Buddie sat down with us at Media Row in Boston on Friday (check out the live streams from the day on Facebook, Twitter and Twitch) and talked bit about how much goes in to getting the game for various cities, including sifting through 11 different host city bids.

“Quite a bit,” Buddie said when asked what goes into picking a host. Buddie and Navy AD Chet Gladchuk work closely together during the process. “We had about 11 municipalities bid on this..it’s a long process. We want to make sure that we give every single person that’s interested a fair share, a fair look. We visited seven of the 11 sites just to make sure we had boots on the ground. You see the facility. You see everything they’ve talked about and go from there.”

Both head coaches – Army’s Jeff Monken and Navy’s Brian Newberry – spoke about the week after the game, a thrilling contest that Army won 17-11 to capture the Commander in Chief Trophy.

“It was fantastic. The folks here, the Patriots organization and just how welcoming they were, we came to the luncheon last Wednesday, they were fantastic. It’s a beautiful stadium, incredible American history here in this part of the country. This is the birthplace of our revolution, so to bring this game here is pretty special,” said Monken. “It doesn’t matter where we play it. It’s a great game. But this was really neat to be here. The great history of this organization and all the great victories of Super Bowl teams that have played in this stadium, it’s awesome. It’s a great experience for our players.

Here’s a bunch of guys – that no knock on our guys – but I don’t have any five-star prospects that turned down USC and Ohio State to come to West Point. These guys are like everybody else. First time they put the pads on when they were a little kid, they dreamed of playing in a venue like this, in an atmosphere like this. So, what an incredible experience for them to play in an NFL stadium.Those are lifetime memories they’ll have, which I’m glad for them. This is a great place, and the people here have been fantastic.”

“The venue was awesome. The folks who put this on rolled out the red carpet for us. I really enjoyed playing here and I enjoyed being in Boston,” Newberry said. “I would say that the people who came to the game were entertained and hopefully proud of what they saw. This game, in the grand scheme of things, is about more than football. It’s about celebrating some of the finest young men in the country on the field and then celebrating and recognizing all those that have dedicated their life to service, that have served and are serving your country. Shining a light on them, celebrating them and showing gratitude for their sacrifice and their commitment. That’s what it’s all about. I think, at the end of the day, whoever was in the stands was proud of what they saw these young men do, as far as their fight and their grit and their toughness and their resolve.”

On a day where the atmosphere around the stadium was electric starting at 9 A.M., right up until and through Navy singing first and Army second, it was a celebration of the greatest country in the world in the birthplace of it all.

The events throughout the week like Media Row, the Patriot Games, the Army-Navy gala and even the luncheon that kicked everything off over a week ago were all first class. Media Row felt a little bit like a Super Bowl Radio Row. Having ESPN’s College Game Day on hand – something that usually only happens around here at BC and Harvard-Yale on a rare occasion – provided quite a scene with thousands of future protectors of the free world packing the parking lots that were blocked off for the stage. There was a giant American flag hanging from a fire truck greeting folks as they merged onto Rte. 1. The Patriots Pro Shop looked like a Black Friday mob scene. The tanks, weapons displays and virtual experience outside the shop and stadium were buzzing for hours, with old veterans climbing up ladders with the help of today’s soldiers to get some photos. Kids laughed and yelled while pretending to drive one of the vehicles as their parents looked on with smiles, capturing the moment on their phones. The drinks were flowing everywhere you looked. Every few minutes, you’d hear a ‘Go Navy! Beat Army!,” or a “Go Army! Beat Navy!” call and response randomly in a crowd.

Speaking of College Game Day, we all knew this meant a lot to Bill Belichick, but you really know what it meant when he was willing to put on an old Navy helmet two sizes too small during the picks segment to the delight of Lee Corso and everyone else on set. Before that, Belichick put it very simply when talking about the stakes this game carries every season.

“I think it starts with, if you’re Army or Navy, you’re better off being 1-10 with that being the win than you are 10-1 with that being that loss,” he said. “It starts with that. if you’re a coach and your job’s on the line, you better win that one.”

Perhaps most importantly, the players playing in the game – many about to go and serve our country in one of the most chaotic times in history – all raved about the experience they had in the area during this week and especially on game day. Army was in the road locker room, while Navy had the Pats’ locker room and had their names at each locker.

“Foxborough is amazing. The stadium, atmosphere and the people in Boston were special. This was a great and amazing experience,” said Navy linebacker Will Harbour.

“It was definitely an incredible experience out there. Great weather; that was pretty nice. But yeah, I know I came up last week for a big Media Day, and they just welcomed us with open arms, rolled out the red carpet, and like the way we had the hotel set up. It’s just been an awesome experience,” Army linebacker Leo Lowin said. “I know Army-Navy is just a big deal for us players, so having the red carpet rolled out for you and just the way people treat you here is an incredible thing and the atmosphere tonight was awesome.”

If you’re old enough to remember it, this past week had a little bit of a 1999 MLB All Star Game week feel to it. All eyes were on the region and New England glistened.

While we’re probably never going to see a Super Bowl here, America’s Game returning on a regular basis every few years would be the next best thing.