Earlier in the week, we shared the story of how Tom Brady ended up wearing KT Tape on his thumb to cover 12 stitches in the AFC championship game.
One of the biggest questions that still remained was who the doctor was that approached the KT Tape booth at the professional baseball athletic training conference last Thursday.
WEEI.com has learned that it was Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who is very close with the Patriots quarterback. He is the doctor who performed the surgery on Brady's torn ACL in 2008 and is considered a friend of the 40-year-old.
Dr. ElAttrache is actually the course chairman of the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society conference, so he was already at the event before Brady injured his thumb. His assistant, Teri Chavarria, was the one who photographed the tape on his thumb, which were then sent to the Patriots.
It's unclear if the Patriots and Brady considered other methods to cover the stitches.
Dr. ElAttrache is also the team doctor of the Dodgers and Rams. He and Brady have known each other since the early 2000s.
"At a pretty critical moment in my career, he was someone who was right there by my side," Brady told the LA Times in 2016. "I'm forever grateful to him and his commitment to me, and we're lifelong friends because of that."
SportTechie was first to report Dr. ElAttrache being the one who alerted the Patriots to use KT Tape.
