Tom Brady's Patriots Hall of Fame induction ceremony broken down into 12 memorable moments
FOXBORO – It was a night to remember for football fans in Foxboro as Tom Brady joined the Patriots Hall of Fame during the first ever induction ceremony inside Gillette Stadium.
Here is a look back at some of the most memorable moments of the night.
Patriots retire No. 12
Some of the biggest highlights came toward the end of the night.
Robert Kraft took the stage, and declared that no one would ever wear Brady's No. 12 again.
"There is only one iconic number that will always represent Tom Brady. Tonight I promise that it will never be worn again," Kraft said. "The No. 12 is officially retired."
Tom Brady statue to be unveiled
Kraft also made another historic announcement.
For the first time ever, the team will unveil a statue honoring one of its players.
Kraft said a 12-foot-tall statue of Brady will be dedicated in the plaza outside the Patriots Pro Shop.
Deafening ovation for Bill Belichick
It wasn't clear if Bill Belichick, Brady's coach for two decades, would be in attendance on Wednesday.
He was, and it provided one of the most memorable moments of the evening.
Belichick was introduced, and walked onto the stage to massive applause from the sell-out crowd.
Belichick and Brady embraced, and the fans continued to cheer as the former Patriots coach waited for things to quiet down to start his remarks.
"Thank you Patriot nation, thank you!" Belichick told the crowd.
Later, Brady heaped praise on Belichick.
"Let me make this crystal clear there is no coach in the world I would rather play for than Bill Belichick," Brady said. "It wasn't you. It wasn't me. It was us."
Red jacket ceremony
As part of the main business of the night, Brady donned his red jacket as the newest member of the Patriots Hall of Fame.
At the conclusion of the festivities, Brady and other members of the Hall of Fame gathered on stage for a photograph.
Brady thanked nearly everyone imaginable, from coaches and teammates to the people who cleaned the locker room.
"I am a Patriot"
Near the end of his speech, Brady made it clear just what New England means to him.
"I am Tom Brady, and I am a Patriot," Brady said to conclude his speech.
"Allow me to reintroduce myself"
Going back to the start of the night, rapper Jay-Z was on hand to kick off the festivities.
He performed "Public Service Announcement," which played during pregame for years when Brady took the field.
Fog filled the stage as the first notes played. Jay-Z then took the stage and belted the iconic lyrics "Allow me to reintroduce myself."
Brady made his entrance as Jay-Z performed, setting the stage for the evening.
Randy Moss breaks down in tears
Some of the top pass catchers from Brady's career joined him on stage for one of the night's segments.
Among them was Randy Moss, who became overcome with emotion after seeing the crowd reaction to his introduction.
Moss wiped tears from his eyes during the lengthy ovation, which seemed to only get louder the longer it went.
"Y'all know it's always good to feel this," Moss, with tears rolling down his face, told the crowd after about 45 seconds of applause.
Tom Brady's "enemies"
Several of players who spent their careers as enemies to the Patriots and their fans recorded video messages to congratulate Brady.
The crowd serenaded several of the players with boos, including Ray Lewis, Eli Manning, Richard Sherman, and possibly loudest of all Patrick Mahomes.
At the end of the video portion, host Mike Tirico said there was one surprise guest who said it was only right to honor Brady in person.
Peyton Manning took the stage and talked about what it was like to play against Brady. He recalled an offseason trip the pair took in 2009. A group of fans spotted them, and Manning recalls telling them "If you tell anybody Tom Brady and I are friends, we'll kill all of you."
Cheers for Drew Bledsoe
Drew Bledsoe, who Brady famously replaced when he suffered an injury in 2001 and never reclaimed the starting job, was on hand for celebration.
Any time Bledsoe was shown, the crowd responded with loud "DREWWWWW" cheers.
"Great teammate, greatest quarterback of all time, you were the worst backup quarterback of all time. You never understood that when I got healthy you were supposed to sit the hell down!" Bledsoe joked during a segment called "QB Room."
"The Boys of Fall"
The second musical guest of the night was country music star Kenny Chesney.
Patriots center David Andrews introduced Chesney, who performed football-inspired "The Boys of Fall."
Brady returned to the stage after the song was over to share an embrace with the singer.
The Brady Four
One of the lighter moments of the night came when while giving his red jacket speech, Brady acknowledged an unlikely group.
Dave Portnoy, John Feitelberg, Hank Lockwood, and Paul Gulczynski from Barstool Sports were in attendance as guests of Robert Kraft. They were seated near the front of the crowd in front of the stage, dressed exactly as they were in 2015 when they were arrested for protesting Brady's Deflategate suspension inside NFL headquarters in New York City.
"We've even got four guys who went to jail for me sitting here as RKK's special guests," Brady said, though technically Portnoy departed the ceremony early to watch the end of the Celtics' Game 3 win over Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.
The red carpet
Before the ceremony got underway, hundreds of Brady's former teammates and other guests, including Jon Bon Jovi, arrived on the red carpet.
The setup brought a Hollywood feel to Foxboro, and set the stage for a night full of familiar faces.
