Watch CBS News

Tom Brady Discusses His Letter To Grieving Family

BOSTON (CBS) -- Sports Illustrated wrote a fantastic article on Wednesday, detailing a letter Tom Brady wrote to a family dealing with a tragedy.

Brady penned a heartfelt letter to the family of Calvin Riley, a 20-year-old junior college baseball player who was gunned down in San Francisco back in August. Riley, originally from Lowell, Massachusetts, graduated from the same High School as Brady, Serra High School in San Mateo, California.

The Patriots quarterback said he hoped his words could provide a little boost for a grieving family when he spoke about his gesture with reporters on Thursday at Gillette Stadium.

"A friend of mine from high school kind of told me his situation and how special Calvin was," said Brady. "It was just something that I thought I could do to maybe raise their spirits a little bit. A very tragic situation.

"Everyone faces difference challenges in their life and that would be something that would be like I said just very tragic. I have had different people pick me up at different times and you always appreciate those things and always remember them. I could never imagine going through what the family has had to go through over the course of this period," he continued. "I think our team does a lot of things and a lot of players in our locker room do a lot of things to try to make positive impacts in the community when we can. You hate for it to be under those circumstances, but unfortunately some tragic things happen and you just do what you can do to help."

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.