EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — It wasn’t the Canyon of Heroes and there wasn’t as much tickertape, but that didn’t seem to bother about 30,000 New York Giants fans who flocked to MetLife Stadium Tuesday to celebrate the team’s rousing Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots.

Some of them even got to touch a piece of history when Giants running back Brandon Jacobs capped the boisterous celebration by taking the Vince Lombardi Trophy and walking it around the stadium to give delirious fans in the lower rows a chance to lean over and put their hands on it. It was an impromptu moment that fit the mood of the afternoon.

Thousands of fans showed up hours early to tailgate in the parking lot as if it were a Sunday during the season. And with weather in the upper 40s and low 50s, it was hard to distinguish it from October anyway.

Carol and John Senatore of Stony Point, N.Y., near West Point, share a season-ticket package and didn’t even consider going into New York for the morning parade.

“We tailgate all year, so we figured why not do it today, too,” John Senatore said. “This is more intimate.”

Dennis Ubiles, a Manhattan resident, opted to come across the river instead of heading downtown. He managed to get son Andrew out of his elementary school for the day. And the two were ready to celebrate, Dennis in his Victor Cruz jersey like so many Giants fans, and Andrew with the No. 9 of kicker Lawrence Tynes.