Ahead of Patriots season opener, Brady talks about his return to Gillette Stadium

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — We are just days away from the start of the NFL season — and Tom Brady’s return to the football field. The goat is retired, but he will be honored at Gillette this coming Sunday when the Patriots host the Eagles.

The Pats so far have not released any details about the “Thank you Tom” game — as it’s being dubbed. The Patriots will honor their six-time Super Bowl champion during halftime — but what exactly will happen is not being announced. On his “Let’s Go Podcast” with Jim Gray, Tom talked about the special reunion and how he remembers his time with the Patriots.

“A lot of gratitude,” said Tom Brady. “I had two decades of incredible life-changing, altering experiences. 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.”

This will be his first time returning to the field as a fan — not as a player. He helped the franchise win six Super Bowls in his career as a Patriot. He won all of those championships with head coach Bill Belichick by his side. Despite reports of having a rocky relationship towards the end, Belichick has nothing but praise and respect for Tom and says he’s excited to see him this Sunday.

“Tom’s meant so much to this team, organization, me personally,” said Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick. “It was a tremendous experience to be able to coach him and for us to share the things we shared together a lot of player, coach relationship.”

Belichick went on to say that recognizing him for all of his achievements is more than appropriate and he certainly deserves it. So Belichick, Tom, and of course the fans are excited for this game. There are still tickets available, but they are a bit more expensive for a regular-season game. On Ticketmaster, third-level seats are going for more than $200 apiece.

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