Tom Brady was given a thunderous reception in New England on Sunday as he returned to the Patriots for the first time as a Fox broadcaster. 

Brady spent nearly two decades in Foxborough, cementing himself as the greatest quarterback in history.

He led the Patriots to six Super Bowl championships alongside head coach Bill Belichick but Brady risked the wrath of fans with controversial comments ahead of last year's Super Bowl. 

After the Patriots made it back to the end-of-season finale, where they faced the Seattle Seahawks, Brady claimed: 'I don’t have a dog in the fight in this one.'

After retiring from the NFL, Brady signed a 10-year, $375million deal to become Fox's top NFL analyst. And he said: 'May the best team win... I just wanna see good football.'

His comments upset some Patriots fans, given his long history with New England. But any fears that Brady had burned his bridges were extinguished on Sunday.

He was in the broadcast booth for the Patriots' clash with the Green Bay Packers and before the game, players from the New England team of 2016 were introduced to the crowd.

That year, Brady orchestrated a historic Super Bowl comeback, dragging the Patriots back from 28-3 down to beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in overtime.   

To mark the 10-year anniversary of that win, the likes of Julian Edelman were paraded on the field of Gillette Stadium. Earlier this week, the retired quarterback was left off the list of those taking part in the pre-game festivities, prompting some fans to slam Brady online.

But during the ceremony, cameras cut to Brady inside the broadcast booth. And when he appeared on the stadium jumbotron, fans inside Gillette Stadium erupted into huge cheers and rapturous applause. 

The 49-year-old acknowledged the crowd by waving and mouthing: 'Thank you!'

Brady had not been to Foxborough since a preseason game in 2025 when his statue at the stadium was unveiled. 

Earlier this week, he addressed his return to Gillette Stadium, telling Colin Cowherd on FS1: 'It'll certainly be emotional. Every inch of that stadium I've been through so many times, from the locker rooms to the meeting rooms.

'So many memorable plays in that stadium, big games, championship games, rivalry games, division-clinching games, so to be back there [is special].'