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Tom Brady and Randy Moss stood in the same huddle, two stars accustomed to all eyes existence on them. It was hot and humid and sticky, like e'er in August in New England. The oversupply was particularly large and loud. The fans and media members couldn't assistance but lookout the exacting quarterback and his mercurial new receiver. The Patriots had traded a 4th-round pick for Moss at the 2007 draft, and so Brady had restructured his contract so that the squad could fit Moss under the salary cap. At present anybody watched to see if they could play together.

Brady and Moss would say after they had an instant connectedness, but that's probably some sepia-toned hindsight. It didn't ever come up easily; in that location was some tension, and both players seemed so different. Brady appeared to lack his usual fire. Moss' swagger was tempered.

It was impossible not to observe. Moss might jog out to his spot on the line of scrimmage and bandage an eye toward Brady to read the quarterback's minimalistic approach to pre-snap advice — a raised eyebrow or a tiny twist of the manus. It's a sign language few have studied long enough to understand. So Moss would rip into his route and end, jarringly, and expect the ball to striking his hands. But Brady, expecting a get-route instead of a stop route, had already flung information technology down the field. This happens frequently, yr-in and year-out at Patriots camp every bit Brady and his receivers go in synch.

Usually, such practice gaffes would crusade Brady to unleash his signature high-pitched, hyena wail — "What are we doing?!"

Simply not this fourth dimension. Brady just went back to work.

Moss, the walking embodiment of a diva receiver — so talented he didn't need to deport — would simply trot back. No stalking off the field. No easily thrown in the air. No trash talk to the opposing cornerback.

Information technology was odd — even disconcerting — for many onlookers. If only they had known that Brady and Moss would spend the residual of the day figuring it out from their quiet nook of the locker room — space the quarterback had carved out and then that he could build a new kind of relationship with the most talented actor he had e'er thrown to.

Brady had broken Patriots tradition earlier that summer by requesting the locker next to Moss. Previously, head motorcoach Bill Belichick had arranged his players by number. That generally put them nearly players of the aforementioned position. No demand to overthink it. Brady dared to challenge the guild of things. Belichick loathed giving special treatment to anyone, but Brady knew Moss would need it. And Belichick, a man who has always appreciated the fine details, surely appreciated Brady thinking carefully virtually something like this. It's easier to disarm a bomb from upwardly shut. Brady had the reputation of a technician on the field, but off the field, he was proving equally dextrous.

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Tom Brady was Tom Brady by then — just also not. He'd won iii Super Bowls, twice existence named MVP, and had been selected to three Pro Bowls in seven seasons. The scrawny, 6th-round selection out of Michigan had defied odds, but few considered him one of the defining players of his generation. He was still figuring out how to deport an offense — both on and off the field. And then  Brady held back the disquisitional words and the negative trunk linguistic communication after each miscommunication with Moss.

Moss, having burned out after only two years in Oakland, was more fragile than ever. He was also looking to change his approach on the field, and Brady's program turned out to be a perfect fit.

Matt Cassel had the other locker next to Brady that year, and watched carefully equally Brady worked to build a human relationship with the league's most combustable personality. Brady was unlike. He had to be.

"With his body of piece of work that [Moss had] already accomplished, Tom would talk to Randy or get over a certain route or go over a sure depth," he said recently. "Those conversations took identify in the locker room. Instead of doing it out in front of everybody — but to get more out of them — he would, on the other side of that, empathize who he was talking to and understand the temperament of the player."

Brady displayed his signature intensity elsewhere, Cassel recalls. The Patriots had also brought in a diminutive and little-known slot receiver that summer named Wes Welker, and Brady roared at him when a route turned sloppy or a laissez passer vicious incomplete.

"Some guys he would go after a footling bit more, similar in terms of the Welkers of the earth," said Cassel, who started 66 games subsequently spending iv seasons in New England and is now an NFL analyst for NBC Sports. "I e'er refer to Welker as a Labrador retriever. He always wanted more than and more than and more than."

With Moss, Brady'south proximity allowed for private and subtle conversations; he'd literally whisper to Moss near mistakes. This relationship became even more important because Moss injured his hamstring and missed practices — they were surely taking mental reps in the locker room. Brady could calmly instruct Moss on audibles, road options, timing, brawl-placement and the other infinite preferences Brady has for his receivers on any given play. That's what Moss wanted. And closeness created closeness.

"I wanted them to put my locker right abreast his because whenever game time came nigh, I wanted to know everything," Moss once shared. "If non everything, at to the lowest degree 98, 99 percent of everything he'due south going to call. Then if I see a defense shifting or I run into the linebackers doing something, he might change the play, and I know why and what he's changing it to. I know why he'southward irresolute it."

It worked: Moss caught 98 passes that yr — including a career-high 23 touchdowns — while Brady won his first league MVP and the Patriots remained undefeated until losing to the Giants in the Super Bowl.

Brady, as is his habit, downplays the determination to sit next to Moss at present.

"I remember asking for Randy to be put there," Brady said recently. "I remember I wanted to get to know him. I recall a part of it that when yous're 2 anxiety from one another, it'southward easier than when you lot're on the other side (of the locker room). Information technology'southward cool when you lot're together with different guys. Talk well-nigh things they like and don't like. Just build rapport and trust."

That summer changed the dynamics of the Patriots locker room, and created fresh intrigue each training military camp: Which histrion would go the seat adjacent to Brady, the savant with a relentless honey of football and desire to win? And what would Brady share with them?

Brady is a private person — the locker room is a individual place. But as Brady embarks on his start off-flavor as a free amanuensis, we sought to discover the players who dressed next to — and were influenced past — the quarterback who kept improbably rising until he was widely considered ane of the greatest of all time.

***

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There'southward no listing of Players Who Sabbatum Adjacent To Brady. It's non as official every bit that. But we did manage to piece together a fractional tally: Drew Bledsoe, Matt Gutierrez, Moss, Cassel, Deion Branch, Matthew Slater, Julian Edelman, Brian Hoyer, Aaron Dobson, Brandon LaFell, Malcolm Mitchell, Jacoby Brissett, Josh Gordon, Demaryius Thomas, Antonio Brown, Mohamed Sanu and Ben Watson.

Yes, Brady began his career as the young quarterback who needed to emulate the starter. Eventually, he became the mentor for those who might supplant him. (None have — even so.) He'due south likewise been paired with pass-catchers hoping to go a favorite target, which is only possible through precise and consistent play. Talking to those who shared this space with Brady provides a more rounded movie of who he is, simply you lot probably need to understand the dynamics of an NFL locker room first — and how drastically they've changed since Brady entered the league.

In 2019, the Patriots' locker room is a cartoonish representation of how glamorous professional sports have gotten. The "lockers" are probably three feet wide, iii feet deep and 10 feet tall. There'southward shelving for shoulder pads and a helmet. Drawers hold cleats and other nicknacks. The structure is fabricated of forest that looks similar a rich mahogany Ron Burgundy might notice suitable for his apartment. Considering some players enjoy their privacy, the locker too features two doors that slide back into the sides of the locker (not unlike what an old TV cabinet used to have for doors). It'southward basically a wardrobe, retrofitted for football game. Brady's locker includes a mass of TB12 gear, along with a pocket-size statue of Shiva, the Hindu deity, and often a notebook or two and packages from whatever company he'south promoting at that time (Gap, Glaceau Smartwater, Under Armour, UGG, Movado Watches, Stetson cologne, Tag Heuer watches and and so many others). He has so much stuff that Brady is 1 of the few players to earn a 2nd locker in 2018 and 2019. And yes, Brady'southward locker one time featured a MAGA hat, which entrenched the sports media in political give-and-take for months.

New England employs a one-half dozen equipment managers to continue the sprawling locker room tidy at all times.

It is a starkly different space than the one Brady outset entered after the Patriots drafted him in 2000. At that fourth dimension, the earth-shaking locker belonged to Bledsoe, the man who had helped New England become a respectable franchise and distance the Patriots from their label as the laughingstock of the league, "the Patsies."

Bledsoe and Brady saturday abreast each other in a cramped locker room at the old Foxboro Stadium. The lockers were metal and probably not far off from the ones at Foxborough High. There was nothing glitzy about the space: metal, concrete, mildewy football pads and dirty laundry. It felt, at times, like an surreptitious bunker. At that place were temporary lockers in the middle of the room, and the space was overcrowded with 90 bodies during training army camp. The media contingent, which was a fraction of the size at that time, merely made things worse. In tight quarters and with stale, salty humidity in the air, Brady studied his mentor fiercely, much like so many quarterbacks have come to do with Brady.

Brady had no choice. He was a nobody who couldn't trounce out Drew Henson (who?) for the starting job in college.

"Tommy was a young kid out of Michigan, a skinny piffling twerp," Bledsoe said. "The one thing that stuck out about Tommy when he was a young kid was that he was immediately an extremely hard worker and had a great personality most him. People naturally gravitated toward him. None of us — at that point — thought he would be something special."

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It's probable that not fifty-fifty Belichick knew what he had until Brady took over for an injured Bledsoe on Sept. 23, 2001, when Jets linebacker Mo Lewis sent Bledsoe into the Patriots locker room with an injury and rearranged the power dynamics in that locker room — and set the history of the NFL in a new direction.

That Nov when Bledsoe got salubrious, Belichick announced his controversial conclusion: Brady was the starter "barring unforeseen circumstances." The most notable locker in the room was suddenly that of a mashy 24-year-quondam. He began to gain conviction on and off the field. The quarterback loved competing with his teammates in games of cards and backgammon — often getting heated while desperate for a win. Brady also started to take over the music in the locker room. He loved (and however loves) Jay-Z. If yous were in the locker adjacent to Brady, you'd hear him rap every lyric to some of his favorite Jay-Z songs.

"He was a big hip-hop guy," Branch said. He was next to Brady in his second stint with the Patriots from 2010 to 2012. "It didn't surprise me that he was e'er over there DJing, which was absurd. Who's going to say anything to Tom? He could have put on rock and scroll and nobody would take said anything, even though they hate it and probably dislike the music. But Tom never did that. … When it's become time (on game day), he gets rowdy. He gets going (with hip-hop)."

Brady'south locker was too known for its odor. All of the men who had a seat nearby talk about that. Not body odor. No. They caught wafts of either cocoa butter or a fancy men's fragrance.

"He liked to odor good. Tom'due south locker stayed total of Tom Ford cologne, cocoa butter lotion," Branch said. "I've never seen too many Caucasian brothers with cocoa butter. Yous feel me? Back then, he wasn't equally heavy with the TB12 Method. … He wanted to exist a wideout. All receivers, nosotros ever olfactory property good, we always wait skilful all the time."

Edelman was quick to admit that Brady's locker "smells just like a handsome man." Cassel instantly recalled the scent of cocoa butter filling up the locker room thanks to Brady (which is an impressive feat because the other smells that can overtake a locker room). In many ways, Brady is just similar us. This is not one of those ways.

Brady'south ascent to fame was quick. And, perhaps, his appearance grew more than manicured with it. His one time-stubby cheeks drew tight to his jawline and his haircut followed a number of the fashionable looks. He went from looking like a frat boy to a flick star. And of course, his jewelry drove was growing. By 2005, he owned iii gaudy rings, bedazzled with diamonds in celebration of wins in Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII and XXXIX. His appearances in the locker room started to experience like a stroll downwardly the cherry-red carpet. Heads turned to watch him move through the room. Reporters swarmed. And as he aged, Brady became teammates with the young men who idolized him: the Tom Brady.

During breaks between meetings in the mid 2000s, Brady stood at his locker to call Bridget Moynahan, who he'd later take a child with. That's also roughly around the same time that Brady met his torso bus and personal trainer Alex Guerrero, who would spend more time around the quarterback's locker in the coming years — until he was briefly prohibited from doing so when Belichick and Guerrero reportedly had a dispute about best practices for injury treatment. Brady somewhen stopped calling Moynahan, and began FaceTiming with his married woman Gisele Bündchen, 1 of the globe's well-nigh accomplished super models, and his kids Ben, Jack and Vivian. Because Brady is a busy human being during the football season, he tin frequently exist found chatting with his married woman and kids in his locker.

Despite all these changes, Brady'southward teammates said, he stayed grounded.

"The biggest thing that I'll tell you is that the guy that he is at present is still the same guy that I met 20-something-years ago when I came in," Bledsoe said. "He was simply a actually good person."

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He was particularly good to his teammates, and every bit he grew more famous, he seemed to abound more graceful and careful with that fame in the locker room. Although, there were some exceptions. When asked about his favorite moments with the players in the locker side by side to him, Brady responded: "The pranks." Ane example? Cassel wouldn't call Brady "Captain Longshanks." Why did Brady want that nickname? Unclear. But Cassel wouldn't become with the menstruum. And so Brady responded: he removed the tires from Cassel'due south car. Iii of them landed in Cassel'southward locker. Brady hid the fourth somewhere in the Patriots' facility.

"I go exterior and my machine is on blocks," Cassel said. "Everyone'due south laughing. I had to get a ride home from my roommate, because he wouldn't give me my tire back."

Though that prank went a piddling far, these gestures set a playful tone in the Patriots' locker room.

These days Brady is the elderberry statesman — by a lot — and seems to know it. As an icebreaker, Brady will devious from his locker to introduce himself, a laughable gesture. ("Hullo, I'm Tom Brady." "Yes, I know.") It'southward an effort to bear witness he'southward not in a higher place anyone, which is of import, because a few of his teammates were willing to admit they were jittery to meet Brady — and fifty-fifty more than shocked that they'd be literally bumping shoulders in the locker room. Slater remembered managing his oh-my-god-I'thou-in-the-locker-next-to-Brady feelings.

"At the beginning of my career — equally much every bit yous hate to admit this — you lot're a picayune flake intimidated. You're a little bit starstruck," Slater said. "It'southward similar, 'This is Tom Brady.' You're not quite sure what'southward appropriate and what'southward not."

Once that feeling passes, they tin begin to absorb, discover and eventually emulate. Once Cassel stopped calling him Mr. Brady — which lasted longer than Brady was comfortable — the backup began to truly see greatness at piece of work. Cassel started his Patriots career in a temporary locker, like most rookies. The bulletin: rookies haven't earned their place on the team. A actor'southward identify is as tenuous as his locker's place. Somewhen, Cassel made the 53-human roster and found himself in the coveted infinite side by side to Brady. That's when he plant himself in the balancing deed for players in proximity to Brady — he is an invaluable resource with ane limited resource: time.

"I didn't try to ask also many questions or overwhelm him with questions, because I knew my questions were probably stupid at the time. Didn't want to be too cumbersome and bother him with those," Cassel said.

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When Brady wasn't pulling pass-catchers aside to discuss a scenario where the receiver should migrate upfield against cover-2, he was getting through his busy and precise routine. Everything is calculated and efficient — he's living in the two-infinitesimal drill. During the 16 hours per twenty-four hour period he spends on football, Brady moves through the locker room swiftly to get to his next offensive meeting, treatment session, workout and cold tub soak, with a special teams meeting mixed in here and there. (Yeah, Brady has attended meetings for which he has no business concern being present.) His game day is routine, which includes the careful laying out of his jersey, his cleats, his shoulder pads, his scuba gear (on common cold days), his helmet and and so on. It'southward all regimented. It's all routine. He'due south had the same job title for 20 years, even if he'll tell you lot the responsibilities change every year.

"That's the impressive thing. Afterwards so many weeks in the flavor, guys start to get tired and pack information technology in. He merely keeps grinding," Garoppolo said. "To practice it for such a long time — I'thousand telling you. It'due south 1 of those things you feel like a robot doing it for 17 weeks straight. (His preparation) is impressive."

Garoppolo did his best to match Brady'due south preparation. They would both be one day ahead on their homework. If they were talking near third-downs on Thursday in quarterback meetings, Brady and Garoppolo would have studied that situation on Tuesday — rather than the typical timeline on Wednesday. And perhaps Garoppolo, who is headed to Super Bowl LIV with the San Francisco 49ers, did what he saw Brady do for the final game of the postseason. The Patriots quarterback would study his opponent until 2 a.m. afterward winning the briefing title game.

No matter what'due south happening in a week, Brady puts aside moments to relax with his teammates. That's when Brady leans into the locker adjacent door to look at photos of his teammate'south wife and kids. He will congratulate a teammate on a newborn kid, swap stories about the funniest affair their kids said or provide for emotional support for issues at home.

"When he's hither, he's here. He'due south engaged. We could sit here and not talk about football game," Benjamin Watson said. "The adjacent minute, he'll go practice something that he has to do and ready."

Much has been made of earning Brady's trust. But information technology goes both ways. He seems to work hard to earn the trust of those around him — those that become important to him.

"He is what you lot would promise someone of his stature in the game would be," Cassel said. "He'due south a solid guy who treats people with respect. … They don't sympathize how loyal he is with his friends."

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His friendships have given life to a quarterback tree, with Cassel, Hoyer, Garoppolo and Brissett graduating to starting jobs elsewhere. They studied him and emulated him at length, which helped propel them to a bigger gig, much like coaching administration have done for years with Belichick. It seems Brady isn't afraid to challenge his teammates.

"He's been like a big brother to me," Garoppolo said in 2017 during preparation military camp. "It's very competitive. Arguments break out and stuff like that, simply it's just very competitive. It's just great being around (Brady and Brissett)."

Anybody wants a slice of Brady, everyone wants a slice of Belichick and everyone wants a piece of the Patriots' dynasty. Fifty-fifty after the quarterbacks take left, Brady would proceed them shut, with regular phone calls and yearly meetings at The Kentucky Derby. If teammates do it right, they proceed to reap the rewards of existence in the locker side by side to Brady, even when they exit New England.

"I'd call him, even when I was in Kansas City, to talk to him about certain stuff," Cassel said. "He truly helped me mature and grow as a quarterback and help me go to the adjacent level in the NFL. Because without his help and without his my better understanding of how being an NFL quarterback works and his leadership, I don't call up I would have had the long career that I had."

***

Greatness isn't unconditionally contagious. Brady has a reputation for flunking receivers, who struggle to learn the Patriots offense. Maybe Brady and Moss made things piece of work for a few years. But their chemistry expired while Moss' relationship with Belichick imploded. The success that Brady and Moss had seemed to embolden the Patriots to endeavour to revitalize the careers of other wideouts, who arrived to New England with a troubled reputation.

Over the concluding 2 seasons, the Patriots have placed Josh Gordon and Antonio Brown in the spot next to Brady. Gordon arrived in 2018 while battling mental health and addiction bug, which accept landed him on an indefinite suspension for the better part of the last six seasons. "Information technology's good to be able to be in such close proximity to larn from him. I wait upward to the guy," Gordon told ESPN's Mike Reiss when he arrived last flavour. "He'south done everything right, then I merely enjoy the fourth dimension beingness around him." Information technology worked for a few games, but Gordon landed on suspension at the end of the 2018 season, and though he returned for 2019, the Patriots cutting him midseason. He received a new intermission later on joining the Seahawks this season.

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Brownish, meanwhile, was an entirely dissimilar problem. When he signed with the Patriots, Brownish hadn't nevertheless faced public backlash over allegations of sexual assault and rape, nor had he attempted to intimidate a woman who accused him of sexual harassment in an entirely separate incident. The word on Brownish was that he was erratic afterwards he had forced his way out of Pittsburgh and Oakland. Brady wanted Brown in the locker next to him. In fact, Brady was ready to invite Brown into the Brady household to aid him acclimate to New England. Moss — the man who set precedent for Dark-brown — thought the receiver needed Brady.

"Where will Antonio Dark-brown be (in the locker room)? Because I know that Josh Gordon is next to him. Will Antonio Brown be close to him? Considering I really believe he needs to be shut to him," Moss said. "You lot heard Tom in that soundbite talk about: y'all've got to get upwardly to speed, yous've got to get upwardly to speed. My secret — the reason I wanted my locker beside Tom is that I wanted to be on the aforementioned page. When Tom audibled, I wanted to brand sure I knew what I was doing, because a lot of people expected the magic to happen between me and Tom, just like people are going to expect the magic between Antonio Dark-brown and Tom Brady to happen. It'due south going to take time, only like Tom said, they've got some work to do."

The Patriots' attempt with Chocolate-brown was a disaster, a Hail Mary try turned  into pick-six. He was beyond helping — at least inside Brady's capacity. For every Moss, there'southward a Brown.

When Dark-brown got cut, Watson, a veteran tight end brought in to try to fill some of the void left by Rob Gronkowski, settled in to Brady's correct. Sanu, a late-season add via trade, saturday to Brady's left (separated past Brady's extra locker). There was no magic, this time. Brady couldn't tap those 2 into New England'south collective unconscious. The Patriots criminal offence floundered over the 2d half of the season, with Brady getting outplayed by Ryan Fitzpatrick and Ryan Tannehill Week 17 and the AFC wild-carte du jour circular losses.

After all the years of influence and success, not even Brady knows where his locker will be next year. He is a free agent, reportedly with a clause in his contract preventing the Patriots from placing the franchise tag on him. He'due south free to go out New England. If he does, the Patriots volition have to observe a way to fill his locker — and everything that comes with it.

Rookie quarterback Jarrett Stidham, a fourth-round pick, had a stall nearby Brady throughout the 2019 season. At 1 point, Brady invited Stidham over to his locker for a moment while reporters were in the locker room. The topic — which Stidham wouldn't reveal — must have been fairly of import, considering Brady never lingers in the locker room when reporters can bother him and fix him off-schedule with chattiness.

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Brady ready his foot up on his chair, and leaned over his knee. Inaudible to everyone but Stidham, Brady issued words of advice. Brady obscures everything that gives him a competitive edge equally a quarterback — even if he has commoditized his dietary and fitness methods into the marketable "TB12 Method." But these tidbits are precious, an alchemist's secrets.

Stidham nodded, proverb nothing. He's well-enlightened of how lucky he is. He has spent the season following Brady around the facility, post-obit Brady's snaps on the practice field, following the motion of Brady's arm on picture written report and following Brady out of the tunnel onto the field at Gillette Stadium. Stidham may discover he tracked the Yard.O.A.T.'s footsteps in his concluding season equally a Patriot. On this day, though, he but listened and gave a slight nod every few seconds. Even though Stidham is simply i inch shorter than Brady, the 42-year-quondam's frame dwarfed the rookie. Stidham looked so small in that locker. Simply equally any other quarterback would.

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Source: https://ftw.usatoday.com/2020/01/patriots-tom-brady-locker-room-bill-belichick

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