New England Patriots unveil 12-foot Tom Brady statue honoring former quarterback's legendary career

The New England Patriots on Friday afternoon unveiled a new 12-foot-tall bronze statue of legendary quarterback Tom Brady, honoring his decades-long career and reputation as one of the greatest players in football history.

Brady, who played for New England for 20 seasons before moving to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for three seasons, retired from the sport in 2023. His career also includes seven Super Bowl victories in 10 appearances.

The statue, which stands at 12-feet-tall in honor of Brady's jersey number, now stands outside Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The bronze figure stands with his right fist in the air and his helmet in his left hand, ESPN reported.

"This is quite overwhelming to me," Brady said during the ceremony. "I feel extremely honored, deeply grateful and, if I'm being honest, kind of old. I'm also a little surprised because usually they don't build statues until you're really old."

Brady reflected on the beginning of his career during the six-minute speech, recalling how he hoped that he would end up on the team's roster after it drafted him in the sixth round of the draft in 2000.

"I never dreamed I'd be standing here 2½ decades later, made of bronze and frozen in time," he remarked, before joking that it was the "first time in my life that Boston sportswriters will describe me as chiseled. So that's a major, major win."

The unveiling comes a year after the team intended to finish the statue. The team initially planned to unveil it in 2024 while Brady provided commentary on a game at the stadium for Fox. However, Brady never covered a Patriots game that year.

The statue also includes several other odes to its iconic quarterback, such as the height from the base of the statue to the top of Brady's hand, which spans 17-feet. The number is the same amount of AFC East titles won during Brady's tenure.

The shape of the statue resembles the number six, which represents the six Super Bowl championships Brady won with the team.

"May this statue forever remind us what Tom Brady did and how he made us all feel," Patriots owner Robert Kraft said.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.