NFL
Night of celebration and gratitude for the greatest NFL quarterback in the Patriots’ history
“I am Tom Brady, and I’m a Patriot, for life!” were Tom Brady’s ending words on this beautiful and emotional New England night devoted to the “one in a billion.”
Players usually wait four years to enter the Patriots Hall of Fame, but Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England team, decided to skip that step to honor the best quarterback in the NFL. The University of Michigan graduate became the 35th player in franchise history to be inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame.
Among the enshrined members are also quarterback Drew Bledsoe, cornerback Ty Law, linebacker Mike Vrabel, defensive end Richard Seymour, and offensive linemen John Hannah and Matt Light, to name a few.
Brady is the all-time leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns, and Super Bowl wins. He was also named NFL MVP thrice (2007, 2010, and 2017) and selected twice as the Offensive Player of the Year (2007 and 2010).
More than 100 of Brady’s former teammates were present at the New England Patriots Hall of Fame induction ceremony, including Rob Gronkowski, Wes Welker, Julian Edelman, Randy Moss, Willie McGinest, Devin McCourty, Vince Wilfork, Ty Law, Drew Bledsoe, and Matt Cassell., with Enshrinement Ceremony held inside Gillette Stadium.
The guests and the congratulations
One of the special guest stars was Tom’s biggest adversary during his football career, Payton Manning. During the conversation with the former Colts and Broncos quarterback, they mentioned the 2009 offseason and the time that they spent together, under the radar, in a small town in Tennessee, just practicing with some high school kids, having a ball, and exchanging everything they knew about football.
The greatest athletes of the Boston area also saluted the great, and everybody knows how highly valued and successful sports are in the New England/Boston area. It was expected that stars like David Ortiz, a legend of the Boston Red Sox in the MLB, and Paul Pierce, of the Boston Celtics in the NBA, would congratulate Brady on his induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame.
Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, Randy Moss, and Wes Welker were the players with the most touchdowns caught in Tom Brady’s career, and all four honored their quarterback’s legacy, with the most powerful word coming from the wide receiver legend Moss.
And, of course, Bill Belichick
The culmination came in when Bill Blichik showed up at the stage set up at the Gillette Stadium, followed by the longest-standing ovation from the Patriots fans.
Tom Brady’s New England Patriots jersey with the number 12 will be retired
The owner of the New England Patriots, Robert Kraft, then took the scene and announced...
Tom Brady’s reception speech
The legendary quarterback also found out earlier that he will have a bronze statue in front of the Patriots Hall of Fame, which will be unveiled during the 204 NFL season. This was the beginning of Tom Brady’s induction speech.
Then emotions and memories started to pour in.
In the end, Tommy, the skinny fourth-string quarterback who was just looking to find his way back in 2000, arrived at Bryant College as the sixth-round pick out of Michigan with a simple goal: to make the Patriots coaches realize he was worth keeping around. And ‘boy oh boy’ did he show them. Judge for yourself.