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Tom Brady Departure Saddens Patriots Fans, But They Are Grateful For His Legacy

FOXBORO (CBS) -- While Patriots fans were devastated to hear Tom Brady was leaving New England, they were grateful for the quarterback's dedication to their team in the last twenty years.

Upon hearing the news, fans headed down to Gillette Stadium for some Brady gear.

"My son who is at home texted me and I thought it was a joke," one man said. "I was on my way back home and I spoke to my daughter and she said 'I don't have a Tom Brady jersey' so here I am."

He added, "I'm just glad that we had him for 20 years and we got six Super Bowls, what can you complain?"

Fan James Stamatos also bought a jersey. "The reason why I bought it in the first place is because usually when a player leaves a certain location, they're not going to be selling this jersey anymore and then it's going to be considered one of the vintage edition jerseys and the price will go up by like $50 and I just wanted one," he said.

"Of course I'm sad and everything, it's devastating," another fan said. "My whole life he's been here. I'm 17 so I've only known Tom Brady as a Patriot so he's the greatest of all time in our eyes."

In Boston, one fan even left flowers outside the TB12 center.

tb12
A bouquet of flowers was left outside the TB12 Performance and Recovery Center in Boston on Tuesday after Tom Brady announced his departure from the New England Patriots (WBZ-TV)

Those who spoke to WBZ-TV said they respect Brady and they would continue cheering for him -- unless he was playing the Patriots.

"The time was coming at some point anyways. It was inevitable. All good things must come to an end, right?" said Boris Senic.

"It's an amazing legacy and it is definitely going to be hard for someone else to top," another man said.

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