GOAT. WELL, THE WAIT IS ALMOST OVER. WE WILL SOON GET TO SEE THE 12 FOOT STATUE OF TOM BRADY. SO TODAY WE ASKED PATS FANS ABOUT WHAT THEY THINK THE STATUE IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE. HOW SWEET IS THAT, TOM? IF YOU GOT TO PICK, THAT WOULD BE THE ONE, OF COURSE. YEAH. LET ME SEE ONE MORE TIME. WHAT DO YOU THINK IT WOULD BE? THAT’S IT. THE LOMBARDI RIGHT THERE. I THINK IT’S GOING TO BE A HAIL MARY SHOT. AND I COULD THINK OF SEVERAL DIFFERENT REASONS OR DIFFERENT FORMS THAT THEY MAY MAKE. MAYBE HE’S LIKE IN THE MIDDLE OF THROWING A FOOTBALL. I WOULD SAY WHEN THEY SAY, LET’S GO WHEN HE’S RUNNING OUT, WHY DOES HE DESERVE IT? BECAUSE HE’S THE GOAT. OBVIOUSLY, GUY’S AN ICON. I MEAN, YOU KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE GET CALLED THE GOAT? SERIOUSLY, HE’S GOT GREAT WORK ETHIC. HE’S ADMIRABLE FOR A LOT OF YOUNG ATHLETES. I THINK HIS NAME WILL FOREVER BE REMEMBERED AMONG SPORTS FANS. AND IN MASSACHUSETTS AND THROUGHOUT NEW ENGLAND, PROBABLY THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. THERE’S NO ONE BETTER THAN HE IS. HE JUST PLAYED LIKE HE NEVER WON ONE, AND HE ALWAYS FOUGHT FOR THE NEXT GUY, FOR THE NEXT CHAMPIONSHIP, FOR THE NEXT TEAM. AND NOW TEAMS AND FANS FOR DECADES TO COME, WILL BE REMINDED OF WHAT THE GOAT DID HERE AT GILLETTE STADIUM. REPORTIN

An enormous black box is outside Gillette Stadium. Inside is the 12-foot statue of legendary quarterback Tom Brady that will be unveiled Friday night. Brady’s jersey, No. 12, was retired last summer as he was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame. The original plan was to unveil a 12-foot-tall bronze statue during the 2024 season.Friday’s unveiling is a little later than owner Robert Kraft originally planned, but it will still make Brady the first player in franchise history to receive the honor of being immortalized with a bronze statue.Kraft is expected to host the ceremony, with Brady in attendance, prior to the Patriots’ preseason game against the Washington Commanders. Brady was drafted 199th overall by the Patriots in 2000 and went on to lead the team to six Super Bowl titles over 20 seasons. After a short-lived retirement, he also won another Super Bowl with the Buccaneers. He retired as a player, for real, in 2023.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. —

An enormous black box is outside Gillette Stadium. Inside is the 12-foot statue of legendary quarterback Tom Brady that will be unveiled Friday night.

Brady’s jersey, No. 12, was retired last summer as he was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame. The original plan was to unveil a 12-foot-tall bronze statue during the 2024 season.

Friday’s unveiling is a little later than owner Robert Kraft originally planned, but it will still make Brady the first player in franchise history to receive the honor of being immortalized with a bronze statue.

Kraft is expected to host the ceremony, with Brady in attendance, prior to the Patriots’ preseason game against the Washington Commanders.

Brady was drafted 199th overall by the Patriots in 2000 and went on to lead the team to six Super Bowl titles over 20 seasons. After a short-lived retirement, he also won another Super Bowl with the Buccaneers.

He retired as a player, for real, in 2023.