After helping them to become the most decorated franchise in the history of the National Football League, the New England Patriots will be immortalizing Tom Brady in bronze outside of Gillette Stadium on August 8th. Brady’s efforts notoriously produced six Lombardi trophies for the Patriots, and both he and the team’s owner, Robert Kraft, are scheduled to speak at its unveiling, which is being scheduled just a few hours prior to the team’s preseason debut against the Washington Commanders.
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It is worth noting, however, that there have been some rather unfortunate statue reveals throughout the years. From Cristiano Ronaldo to Dwyane Wade, there have been plenty of instances in which a superstar athlete has walked away from a ceremony, not loving their depiction.
During one of his most recent broadcasts, Boston radio host Billy Costa noted that he fears the same for Brady this Friday. “What if he doesn’t like it when he sees it?” Costa questioned. “That could happen,” his co-host on Kiss108 Radio suggested after recalling the infamous D. Wade debacle.
Considering that the statue has actually been completed for quite some time now, in addition to the fact that it came with a “seven-figure” construction cost according to Kraft himself, it would be nothing short of a catastrophe for it not to meet expectations.
“We made the statue last year,” Kraft explained during a recent podcast appearance with some of his former players. “Tommy started broadcasting, and we couldn’t get him up, so we have him coming August 8th.”
Kraft also noted that it has been kept in storage in Foxboro this entire time, and that the statue itself is “unbelievable.” Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Brady is “not a bad looking guy, too,” he joked.
The piece will be 12 feet tall and is set to be located just outside of the stadium’s entrance, ensuring that Brady’s legacy will endure well after each and every single one of us is long gone. Given the significance of both his career and the ceremony itself, everyone will certainly be hoping for an accurate depiction.
Thankfully, Kraft commissioned the piece directly from professional artists and has already vouched for its legitimacy himself, so it’s more than likely that things will go off without a hitch. Suffice to say, you don’t become the owner of the most dominant dynasty in all of football unless you’re rather particular about the details.
Even though it’s just the start of the preseason, August 8th figures to be a sentimental day for the New England faithful, one that is filled with both tears and smiles as the game’s greatest signal caller bids his final farewell to the best two decades of his life. Both parties helped to make each other into household names, so it’s only right that, after all of this time, Brady finally becomes a permanent fixture of the Patriots’ home.
