Tom Brady Writes Goodbye Letter to New England Patriots

Tom Brady is no longer the leader of the New England Patriots as he signed a two-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The six-time Super Bowl champion is excited about his new challenge, but leaving the Patriots was not an easy decision. On Monday, The Players Tribune released a letter written by Brady, which says goodbye to the Patriots coaches, players and fans. At the beginning of the letter, Brady talks about his start in New England and how “amazing” the journey was.

“Twenty years ago, I arrived in New England from a different coast, a different part of the country and a different culture,” Brady wrote. “Today, I’m transitioning into another chapter of my life and career. It involves gathering up all the things I’ve learned in my life so far and moving to a different coast, a different part of the country and a different culture. If that feels familiar, there’s a good reason why. Because that’s how it started. My journey over the past 20 years in New England has been amazing. It’s been a long road, and I wouldn’t change anything about it.”

Brady went on to talk about the relationships he made in New England in the last 20 years. He wrote: “But more than any one physical place, it’s the relationships I made in New England that I’ll miss the most. Of course, it starts with the entire New England Patriots organization, and Robert Kraft and the entire Kraft family. It extends to countless other individuals who played such a valuable role in my 20 years as a Patriot. Teammates and coaches, past and present. Old friends, new friends, the neighbors we went trick-or-treating with every year. But mostly, I’ll miss the fans.”

Brady continued: “If there’s one thing anyone can say for sure, it’s that New Englanders understand what fandom is all about. New Englanders just really, really love their sports. That’s maybe because compared to New York, or Chicago, or Los Angeles, Boston feels less like a big city than it does a large small town. Even if you don’t know everybody in Boston, you feel like you know everybody. The fans feel like they’re part of our team, and my teammates and I felt the same way about them.”

Brady leaves the Patriots with four Super Bowl MVP awards, three MVPs, and he has been named to the Pro Bowl 14 times. On Monday, the NFL and the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the 2010 All-Decade Team, and Brady was one of two quarterbacks to make the cut. Brady is the first quarterback in NFL history to make the All-Decade Team twice as he was also named for the 2000 decade.