Tom Brady recalled some of his early days as a New England Patriot during “The Match” broadcasted by Turner Sports on Sunday.
One specific story, which Brady had shared back in 2017, was in regards to ex-Patriot quarterback Drew Bledsoe and a trick Bledsoe played on the current Tampa Bay Buccaneers signal-caller during his rookie season.
“Yeah, when I was a rookie we had a lot of rookie pranks. And we went out for practice one day, we had this loop where we put our laundry after practice so it’s washed for the next day,” Brady explained. “And when I got my loop the next day there were no socks in it. So I went to the equipment manager and said, ‘I needed new socks.’ So he gave me a pair of socks.
“And Drew Bledsoe had put this purple dye, it was like a powder, in my sock,” Brady continued. “So I had practiced for two hours and I looked down at one point in practice and the purple started seeping through the shoes. And I said, ‘What the hell is going on with my shoes?’ Well, I got in the locker room and I had to peel my socks off of my feet. And I had this dark purple stain, my feet looked like Barney the Dinosaur for three weeks and man I scrubbed as hard as I could. I think I scrubbed with Clorox and just about anything else. But I finally got it off.”
Brady, who grew to be a well-known prankster himself during his later years in New England, was asked if he ever had a response for Bledsoe. Brady explained he didn’t, and why that was the case.
“I learned at a young age when people have a lot more money than you, you don’t prank back,” Brady joked during the telecast. “You just accept it and you move on. Fortunately, I had a few rookies when I was a little older and I had a couple more bucks in my pocket so they were on the butt end of a few pranks of mine.”
Brady was on the wrong end of “The Match” on Sunday with teammate Phil Mickelson, despite both a few high and low moments for Brady. Their counterparts on the other side — Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning — won the 18-hole charity match, which came down to the final hole. (You can watch highlights of “The Match” here.)