Any other player would have to wait four years after his retirement to be eligible for induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame, and would also have to be selected through a voting process. Tom Brady is not any other player, though.
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Patriots owner Robert Kraft announced during Sunday's halftime ceremony honoring Brady that the team is waiving the four-year waiting period and will induct Brady into the team Hall of Fame during an in-stadium ceremony on June 12, 2024.
That date was not chosen by accident. June, the sixth month of the year, represents the six Super Bowls Brady helped the Patriots win. The 12, obviously, is Brady's number, which will surely be getting retired -- if not at the induction, then at some other ceremony to come.
Sunday's "Brady Day" began with Brady becoming the first-ever "Keeper of the Light" at Gillette Stadium, ringing the bell atop the stadium's new, bigger lighthouse before kickoff against the Philadelphia Eagles. It would appear this could become a new pregame tradition in Foxboro, with different former players or celebrities partaking each home game.
Brady and his parents sat with Kraft in the owner's box during the game, then headed down to the field for the halftime ceremony, which featured Kraft speaking followed by Brady himself.
Brady thanked the Kraft family, Bill Belichick and other coaches, all his teammates and Patriots fans. He cited his teammates caring about two things as the key to New England's six Super Bowls and 20 years of success: Each other, and winning.
"If you didn't care about those two things, you didn't last long here," Brady said.
Brady closed with a declaration Pats fans loved hearing:
"One thing that I'm sure of, and that will never change, is that I am a Patriot for life," he said.
Watch the ceremony below: