Wednesday’s ceremony for Tom Brady is certainly expected to be one for the ages, with Brady set to receive his red jacket and be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame, along with seeing his #12 be retired. The event is scheduled to begin at Gillette Stadium at 7:00pm, with the Patriots encouraging everyone to “be in their seats by 6:30pm” to ensure they don’t miss any of the festivities.
The in-stadium event is reportedly going to see some stars on hand, including comedian Bill Burr, who the team announced will deliver a monologue to kick things off. Musical guests are also rumored for the event, with Mike Reiss of ESPN pointing out that Robert Kraft recently said while speaking after the Myra Kraft Community MVP Awards last week, that they have “some real outstanding surprise guests that are coming out of respect for Tommy and his legacy.” Scott Zolak said on Monday on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Zo & Bertrand, “I don’t have any inkling of who those secret guests are, but I’ve heard they’re pretty good, from what I’m told,” said Zolak. “There’s a rehearsal taking place tomorrow.”
Tom Curran said during his Patriots Talk Podcast with Phil Perry that two names he’s heard are Jay-Z and Kenny Chesney, saying, “It’s going to be a concert-type event,” while telling fans, “You are going to have a great time.”
Another big question is whether or not the team might unveil a statue of their former quarterback. Zolak was also asked about that Monday, and he apparently hasn’t heard anything definitive on that, but he believes it’s a possibility.
“I’ve heard yes and no on that,” said Zolak during that same segment. “I’m leaning more yes.”
Meanwhile, NBC’s Mike Tirico will be the host of the ceremony, which is expected to include “hundreds” of Brady’s former teammates who will be present for the event. The team announced that Julian Edelman, Randy Moss, Rob Gronkowski, Willie McGinest, Devin McCourty, Vince Wilfork, Ty Law, James White, Wes Welker, Kevin Faulk, Matthew Slater, Dan Koppen, Logan Mankins, Matt Cassel, Brian Hoyer, Drew Bledsoe, Rob Ninkovich, and Patrick Chung are among the names expected.
Chad Graff of The Athletic reported that Bill Belichick will also be at the ceremony, which is certainly good news. This is the second time we’ve seen Belichick show up for his former quarterback, with the former Patriots head coach also having previously appeared on The Roast of Tom Brady on NetFlix. Belichick was among those who delivered one of the more memorable monologues during the event if you didn’t see it.
How Can I Watch the Tom Brady Ceremony?
It looks like for those who weren’t able to purchase tickets for Wednesday night’s extravaganza, the Patriots are making sure fans will still be able to take it all in.
According to the team’s website, the club appears set to stream the festivities “on all Patriots digital and social platforms starting at 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday.”
Here’s a quick rundown with links to their most popular social media accounts:
Patriots Official Twitter Account
Patriots Official Facebook Account
Patriots Official Instagram Account
Patriots Official YouTube Account
The club already has the link for Wednesday night available on their YouTube account, which you can view via this link. According to the description, broadcasting is set to begin at 5pm ET.
(Editor’s Note: Portions of the above appeared in this morning’s Patriots News and Notes Column.)
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
