The New England Patriots began planning a year ago to induct Tom Brady into their Hall of Fame on Wednesday. Not long after the star quarterback retired (for this time), Patriots executives gathered to map out how to honor the game’s greatest player.
The recognition scheme, which began with Brady’s halftime speech at the Patriots’ home opener last season (where he declared himself a “Patriot for Life”), will culminate Wednesday night in front of a sold-out crowd in Foxboro. Here’s how the event unfolded.
what’s happening?
The Patriots take their franchise hall of fame more seriously than most teams, perhaps a fitting tradition for the dominant team of the 21st century. In the year They started their Hall of Fame in 1991, but got inspiration from the Green Bay Packers in 2008 when the team opened a brick-and-mortar location next to Gillette Stadium.
The Patriots have a four-year waiting period between when players retire and when they become eligible for the franchise’s Hall of Fame. That’s a year before players are eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which gives franchises the opportunity to honor players a year before they’re eligible for a Gold Jacket. (The Patriots gave the Hall of Famer a red jacket on May 7.)
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But given Brady’s stature and all that he meant to the Patriots, owner Robert Kraft and his organization looked for more meaningful ways to honor him. So for the 2023 inaugural Halftime Tour, Kraft announced that Brady will be the first player to waive his waiting list for the Veterans Hall of Fame.
.@Tombrady Half time ceremony from @Gillet Stadium.#PHIvsNE on @NFlonCBS pic.twitter.com/DcX6ZnznEY
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 10, 2023
Wait, why is the ceremony held in mid-June?
The Patriots started planning this a year ago. But Brady’s new job created a wrinkle.
Typically, the team likes to welcome back the team all weekend in a pre-homecoming ceremony by having a former player watch Sunday’s game in the Kraft Suite. (Last year’s inductee, Mike Vrabel, ruffled the feathers of Tennessee Titans owner Amy Adams Stank, who was the Titans’ coach at the time and sat by Kraft’s side during the Titans’ bye week. Shortly after the season, Strock fired Vrabel.)
With Brady set to call games for Fox this season, he won’t be available for Patriots Weekend this fall. So the franchise headed to Summer’s Day.
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The Patriots quickly realized that it would be difficult to pull off the event in July, considering that the first part of that month is when most of the NFL goes on vacation. The end of the month is when the training camp starts. Most of the people the Patriots wanted to participate in this event were tied to the league schedule, so it was very difficult to get them before mid-June or commit to time in early July.
The weekend was not an unrealistic option because after more than a year of planning, Saturdays were blocked by the stadium in favor of New England Revolution or American football games as well as concerts. The organization watched Larry Bird’s 1993 retirement ceremony with the Boston Celtics and realized it took place on a Thursday, prompting the idea for a midweek event.
The Pats next looked at their minicamp week in mid-June. They thought it would be easier to bring back Brady’s former teammates (two notables — Vrabel and Wes Welker — are now coaches) as teams around the league wrap up minicamp.
Plus, the Patriots found meaning on the day they held their final minicamp session: June 12. They marketed it as easy to remember: the sixth month of the year for Brady’s six Super Bowls with the Patriots and the 12th day of the month. For his soon-to-be-retired number.
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Who lives there?
The reaction from Brady’s former teammates was overwhelming. The team is expecting more than 200 former teammates to return to Foxboro along with many coaches and some A-list celebrities Brady has befriended.
Yes, that includes Bill Belichick. The former coach, who parted ways with the team in January, has not returned to Gillette since parting ways with the Pats. He is expected to be there on Wednesday.
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The band has not released the exact guest list, but all major figures are expected to include Gronkowski, Vrabel, Welker, Julian Edelman and Randy Moss.
And of course tens of thousands of fans will attend. The group put tickets for sale in a storm, and every group sold out on the same day, on Wednesday night it could be a packed stadium. Those ticket sales were largely intended to cover operating costs, but the full cost of the event was expected to far exceed the ticket revenue generated.
what does it look like
Similar to previous Veterans Hall ceremonies, it will be held in a larger venue. The team is expected to have a panel of former teammates tell stories about Brady, his career and their time together. Even Belichick will probably take the microphone and share some of his own stories.
Kraft then speaks and Brady welcomes him to the stage.
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can i see
The event will begin at 7 pm ET and is expected to last 2 1/2 hours. (This means the Celtics’ Game 3 NBA Finals matchup with the Dallas Mavericks should end half an hour earlier.)
It will be streamed on Patriots social media and the team’s website. It will not be broadcast on local TV.
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(Example: John Bradford/ The athletics; (Photo: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)