Patriots pay heartfelt tribute to Tom Brady before awaited clash | Watch

As NFL’s star quarterback Tom Brady returned to the Gillette Stadium on Sunday to face his former team, the Patriots honoured the 20 memorable years that Brady served the New England side with an in-stadium tribute video ahead of the kick-off.

After 20 seasons, six Super Bowl titles and countless other accomplishments for the Patriots, Brady goes down as the region’s biggest football star. No contest.  

The one-minute video featured the 2001 playoff run, the Super Bowl victory over the Seahawks, the Super Bowl victory over the Falcons, a few touchdowns to Rob Gronkowski and some embraces with owner Robert Kraft. This was followed by a big round of applause and loud ovation as he came out of the tunnel with his teammates. 

The tribute lasted till the beginning of the game and soon after things got pretty interesting. He was greeted to some boos on Buccaneers’ first possession following a Patriots punt. The Bucs gained 34 yards on six plays before punting.

Tom Brady brought an end to America’s most successful dynasty in football history as he exited Patriots in March 2020 after bagging multiple titles in the course of 20 years. This also marked the end of the famous Bill Belichick and Tom Brady partnership as coach and player.

Brady described his exit last year to Boston Herald as being “handled perfectly.” 

“We had a great relationship. Everything was handled the right way,” Brady said Tuesday. “We handled everything as gracefully as we could. It was an amazing time. It was handled perfectly. I think everyone understood where we were at, the people involved in the situation. 

“Things worked out for the best for all of us, and we’re all trying to do the best we can do now. That’s what happens in life. You go through these experiences, you don’t know where life’s going to lead.”