The second Tom Brady steps onto the field, he is poised, steadfast and rarely surprised. There are exceptions to this, however. At training camp this week, he was taken aback ... but in a good way.
As he ran out to the practice fields for some work against the Jaguars on Monday, he was shocked to see familiar faces in the crowd -- his family. In an interview with the NFL Network, Tom told former teammate Willie McGinest that he had no idea his family was coming out from California as a belated birthday surprise.
"I didn't even know my mom was here ... My parents were trying to surprise me to come back here, and I just saw them when I ran out for practice," Tom said. "So that was a nice surprise that I just found out about."
The visit means even more after last season. Tom's mother Galynn was only able to travel to one game as she battled illness, but the game she did attend was one to remember. Her being there as her son led a historic comeback certainly made win even more meaningful for Tom, and he told ESPN's Mike Reiss last week that the Robert Kraft and the Patriots took it one step further this offseason.
Mr. Kraft gave Galynn her own Super Bowl ring, and Tom said it is just one example of the support he and his family have received from Mr. Kraft.
"[Mr. Kraft] has been so supportive of my family and certainly everything my mom went through and knowing first-hand how families deal with it," Tom said. "He was always asking, 'How's mom doing? How is she feeling?' We didn't know up until the very end whether she was going to make it to the Super Bowl. She was a big inspiration for me, and RKK knew it. It was a great surprise to all of us when the ring showed up. She deserves it."
You can check out Tom's full interview with Willie in the video below.
