Joining Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski on their “Dudes on Dudes” podcast, Patriots owner Robert Kraft shed some light on what exactly is going on with Tom Brady’s statue.
Unsure of the statue’s status, Edelman offered a curious suggestion to Kraft.
“We keep hearing about this Tom Brady statue, I think that we should just hire Gronk to be the sculptor of that statue,” Edelman said. “I think that would be unbelievable and everyone will remember that.”
While Kraft acknowledged a Gronkowski designed sculpture would surely stand out, he had to put a damper on Edelman’s idea. As the statue was originally meant to be unveiled last season, the Patriots already have it made, sadly leaving Gronkowski out of the creative process.
“It’s a wonderful suggestion except we made the statue last year,” Kraft said. “And Tommy started broadcasting and we couldn’t get him up so we have him coming August eighth. Actually I would love, since I saw your artistic work with the trophy, if you did it.”
Without reaching out to Gronkowski first, Kraft said the Patriots went right to a professional artist for the commission. New England’s owner noted too that it did not come without its cost.
“We had the privilege of spending seven figures," Kraft said. “We have the statue in storage in Foxboro. We wanted to present it last year but we’re going to unveil it our first preseason game against Washington. You’ll see it, it’s unbelievable, he’s not a bad looking guy too.”
In an announcement in June, the Patriots said the 12-foot tall bronze statue will be revealed prior to that first preseason game against the Commanders outside the team’s Hall of Fame.
Last summer, Brady was inducted into New England’s Hall of Fame as Kraft opted to forgo the usual four-year waiting period following a player’s retirement.
“How do I sum up two decades in New England in one short speech? You can’t,” Brady said at his induction ceremony. “It’s hard for me to express my gratitude… It would take me 30 days to get through it all. Not 30 minutes.”
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