WBZ’s Steve Burton sat on an incredible story for the past few years and decided the Super Bowl was the perfect time to share it with the world. Burton posed what at first seemed like a random question to New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, by asking whether or not Brady had ever been bitten by a dog.
“Wow, yeah,” Brady replied. “I was bitten by two dogs. One when I was little in Minnesota at my grandpa’s farm here. I gave the dog a bone and then went down to give the dog a kiss. I was young and he bit right through my lip. It was pretty rough. Then, the second dog bite, we were in the stadium. I don’t know how many years ago.”
Brady continued his story and shared that team owner Robert Kraft allowed military night training to take place at Gillette Stadium and brought Tom Brady, Jerod Mayo, and Vince Wilfork to meet the troops for a photo opportunity (so it must have taken place between 2008 and 2014).
“Some guys were kind of excited to see us walk out, so I kind of got close to all the guys, and I didn’t realize there were dogs,” Brady added. “Obviously those weren’t like labradors. These were like tough dogs. I raised my arms up over my head, and right when I raised my arms up, the dog jumped up, and I guess was going for my neck and the guy grabbed the dog back down and the dog got my thigh on the way down.
First off this is absolutely terrifying. What if this was how Brady’s career ended? Have you ever seen one of these dogs up close, especially when they’re angry? I’m sure Brady’s life flashed before his eyes. So what happened next?
“So I was standing there with a bunch of tough guys, and they all saw it,” Brady continued. “And they’re like, ‘Are you okay?’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, of course I’m okay,’ but I could feel the cut. But obviously I couldn’t say anything, like, ‘Aw, man, that hurt,’ you know? Because I’m with some of the toughest guys in the world, so I just sucked it up for like an hour after we said ‘hi’ to all the guys.”
What a trooper that Brady is. Brady went back in to the trainers room and phoned head athletic trainer Jim Whelan to explain what happened at 10:30 at night, which I’m sure isn’t a pleasant phone call to receive.
“I have a nice little scar on my quad thanks to that night,” Brady said in closing. “I learned a very valuable lesson.”
Brady noted that he’s much more careful around dogs now after that event. The Philadelphia Eagles are really embracing the “dog” persona this postseason, so I’m sure Brady will steer clear of their defense all night.