For the first time since 1999, former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will enjoy an NFL game as a fan.
Brady will attend the Patriots’ Week 1 opener against the Philadelphia Eagles, and he will be honored at halftime. He played for the Patriots from 2000 to 2019 followed by a three-year stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“So, I don’t think it’s going to be hard to be a fan though. I love the sport, and I love the Patriots. So, going up there to see a lot of my friends and family is going to be a great experience,” Brady said on the “Let’s Go!” podcast on Monday, September 4.
Brady spoke at length about his return to Foxborough where he helped lead the Patriots two nine Super Bowl appearances and six championships. Patriots owner Robert Kraft invited Brady for the game and ceremony after the quarterback’s retirement this offseason.
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“Mr. Kraft has been very welcoming to me. So I’m going to have a lot of great friends there,” Brady said. “I’ve had so many people text me and say that they’re excited to see me come back. So it’ll be really a special reunion and I’m excited to get there. I haven’t been back much, just by the way things work out. Your life kinda takes you in different directions.”
Tom Brady: ‘I Had Two Decades of Incredible Life-Changing, Altering Experiences’
A former sixth-round draft pick out of Michigan, Brady made the Patriots’ roster as the fourth quarterback — something head coach Bill Belichick normally didn’t do. Brady’s opportunity arrived in 2001 after an injury to quarterback Drew Bledsoe, and Brady led the Patriots to the first of six Lombardi Trophies.
“A lot of gratitude. I had two decades of incredible life-changing, altering experiences,” Brady said. “I have so many memories from my time there. Memories with people there. I’m creating a new memory with people there. To go back to that stadium and bring my kids and my family in a different way. I’ve not been to that stadium in this way ever. I went there as a player. I went there once as a competitor. And now I’m going to go there really as a fan and then I’m going to be there in the future as a broadcaster.”
.@TomBrady’s Top 12 Patriots moments.
Brady signed a deal to broadcast with FOX in 2022, and he will begin broadcasting in 2024. He also has part ownership with the Las Vegas Raiders amid various business ventures such as TB12 Sports, which launched in Boston during his playing days.
“I think there’s a lot of cool things happening. Again, I think part of life is growing in different ways, expanding in different ways, trying new things and getting outside of your comfort zone. It’s OK. Even the expectations I have for myself. I’m going to work really hard in this part of my career,” Brady continued.
“Knowing that, [expletive], the first time you try something you’re not very good at it. The first time I threw a football, I was not very good at it. The first time that I tried a math equation, I wasn’t very good at it. In different ways, the first time you try anything, it’s not going to be the easiest way, and you’re going to have to keep working at it,” Brady concluded.
Tom Brady: ‘I am Very Excited to Never Put on a Helmet Again’
Brady, who now resides in Miami, made it clear that he doesn’t plan to play in the NFL again. He retired in February 2022 but reversed course in March that year to play a third season for the Bucs.
“There’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears being out there in a hundred degree heat in Miami, and it’s hard in Tampa when you got helmets and shoulder pads on. And I am very excited to never put on a helmet again,” Brady said. “I did enough years of that and putting on that six-pound helmet on your head in 102-degree heat, believe, I’m not ever gonna miss that.”
Brady played 23 seasons overall amid six titles, three MVPs and countless passing records.
“I was very blessed to play for as long as I did, and I loved it,” Brady told Gray. “Now I get to see other guys do it, and I also get to see football from a different perspective.”
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Tom Brady Reveals Thoughts on First NFL Fan Experience Since Retirement