Editor's note: Twenty years ago today, Tom Brady started his first NFL game in his legendary career. Here's a look back at Henry Bushnell's 2019 feature on what led to that point for Brady, who returns to Foxborough for the first time since he left the Patriots for Tampa Bay.
Act I began with a nod. With a turn and a slight jersey tug, then a trot. More than 6,300 days ago, boyish Tom Brady – unbuckled chinstrap flapping, eyeblack pristine – loped away from a New England Patriots sideline for good, toward his first meaningful NFL huddle.