The retired quarterback is joined by his three children, former teammates and devotees during a special tribute at halftime of the Patriots game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
- Sep 11, 2023
AceShowbiz - Tom Brady has gone emotional during a special tribute. Being honored by his former teammates, the retired New England Patriots quarterback expressed that it was an "incredible celebration" for him, his former team members, devotees and children.
On Sunday, September 10, the 46-year-old athlete was left touched by the homage which took place in a ceremony at halftime of the Patriots game against the Philadelphia Eagles. For the special occasion, he brought along his three children, 16-year-old son Jack, 13-year-old son Benjamin and 10-year-old daughter Vivian, to witness the team retiring his jersey number 12.
During the event, Tom ran to a podium where his three kids were already standing while wearing his number 12 jerseys. He, who also donned his jersey, began his speech by joking that the "run out was a little longer today than it used to be." He said, "I'm not quite in game shape, but it's impossible for me to be in a stadium full of you amazing fans with some of the best teammates, with my family, with all my friends and not run out like I did for 20 years."
"This is an incredible celebration for me, for our family, for my teammates, for all of us to come back and thank you guys for what you've done for us," Tom expressed. "I was so fortunate to be drafted here two decades ago, 23 years to be exact, not even knowing where New England was on the map. And not that we put it on the map, but I think a lot more people in the U.S. know where the New England Patriots play."
"Nobody 23 years ago would imagine that this journey would bring us here today," the former NFL star continued. "We had a lot of countless memories in this stadium. Celebrating wins against great teams in Foxborough weather like today where we love, love seeing the opponents come in and be a little worried about what the conditions were going to be like."
"We dealt with whatever came our way. We dealt with a lot of adversities, and it toughened us up," Tom recalled. "And we as a team represented you guys. Every time we took the field. "It's one of my core beliefs there's nothing significant in life that can be accomplished as an individual. It's always about the team. We build a culture of teammates that carry things. They care about each other and they care about winning."
Following the event, Tom made use of his Instagram page to share a video from the game. Along with the footage, he wrote in the caption of the post, "The first Keeper of the Light in @gillettestadium history is… @tombrady."
