Tom Brady reflects on Patriots career ahead of Foxboro reunion

This Sunday marks the return of Tom Brady to Foxboro for the first time since Week 4 of the 2021 regular season.

Except this time, Brady won’t be wearing a Tampa Bay Buccaneers jersey, nor will he have a helmet in his hand. When Brady makes his way to midfield to be honored at halftime, he will simply be the seven-time Super Bowl champion responsible for the six championship banners hanging inside Gillette Stadium.

“Mr. [Robert] Kraft has been very welcoming to me,” Brady said on his “Let’s Go!” podcast with Jim Gray Monday, via Chris Mason of MassLive.com. So I’m going to have a lot of great friends there,” Brady said. “I’ve had so 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.”

By now we all know the story. An unheralded sixth-round pick out of Michigan who led perhaps the greatest dynasty in the history of professional sports, retiring not once, but twice as the greatest quarterback of all-time. Walking away from the game at the age of 45, Brady defied Father Time on his way to becoming the NFL’s all-time leading passer.

And that’s just the Cliffs Notes version of everything Brady accomplished during his 23-year career, 20 coming in New England. Asked about his time with the Patriots, Brady gave a lengthy response.

Tom Brady sums up 20 years of playing for Patriots

“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.

“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. 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.

“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.”