Tom Brady.Photo:Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty
Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty
Kyle Rudolphhad nothing but great things to say about his time withTom Bradyas his quarterback.
As the Patriots celebrated Brady’scareer in New EnglandSunday, Rudolph, 33, recalled how Brady handled his final season with theTampa Bay Buccaneersamida public divorcewithGisele Bündchenin an interview withNBC Sports.
“If anyone had the right to sometimes be an a–hole, it was Tom. He never was. Think of how tough a year it was for him off the field,” he said.
Kyle Rudolph and Tom Brady.Julio Aguilar/Getty; Jon Kopaloff/Getty
Julio Aguilar/Getty; Jon Kopaloff/Getty
“The most amazing thing to me was, with all the negativity swirling around his life outside of football, he never carried it into the building," Rudolph later said, referring to Brady’s divorce. “Always positive. I didn’t think it’d be possible when I walked into the team to be more impressed with Tom. But I was.”
Rudolph, 33, called Brady “a great teammate” who would motivate him to remain in high spirits, even when he wasn’t scoring as many points as he would have liked. “He’d put his arm around me and keep me positive. He made me a better football player,” the tight end said.
He then revealed that the football Brady threw for his last ever touchdown pass is now in his Tampa office.
Tom Brady.Mike Ehrmann/Getty
Mike Ehrmann/Getty
“So we’re in Atlanta, the last regular-season game of Tom’s career. And on the first drive of the game, I’m on the field, and he throws me the last TD pass of his career, his regular-season career. It was a big catch for me — my 50thtouchdown in the NFL. That ball’s painted and in my office here in Tampa right now. It means so much to me,” he said.
Rudolph rounded out the discussion noting that it was admirable of Brady, 46, to never carry his burdens onto the field.
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“I went to the Bucs to try to win a championship with the best QB ever, who wanted me in Tampa. I came in with expectations, and then never even played. I was a healthy scratch most of the year, and, honestly, it was really disappointing,” Rudolph said Sunday.
While speaking about Brady, he referred to his experience with him as “incredible.”
“First, the way he treated people. The way he treated the Glazer family [Bucs owners] is exactly the way he treated the janitor at 6:30 at night when he and maybe one or two other guys were the last players in the building,” Rudolph said of the famed quarterback.
He was also impressed with how Brady interacted with his teammates.
Tom Brady.Getty Images / Andy Lyons
Getty Images / Andy Lyons
“Second, the way he treated his teammates,” the Ohio native explained before recalling how others regarded the former pro athlete.
“Tom had an empty locker next to him. I would look over there and every day, guys would put helmets, jerseys, pictures, footballs, all the stuff they wanted Tom to sign for them,” he said.
“There’d be notes on the stuff, a post-it note on a football — ‘Sign this for Jimmy, it’s his birthday.’ At the end of the day, almost every day, he’d sit there and sign everything,” Rudolph shared.
“Coming back to New England to celebrate what WE accomplished was so special, and it’s a day that I’ll never forget,” he added after having his No. 12 jersey retired.
source: people.com
