Tom Brady’s locker room at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ practice facility was unique in that it didn’t have just one stall.
Instead, the seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback had a pair of lockers, side by side, and as one former teammate explained, that wasn’t simply a sign of respect.
Speaking to NBC Sports, retired tight end Kyle Rudolph said Brady attached the adjoining locker to store all the collectibles he intended to autograph for others.
“I’d look over there and every day there were kids dropping off helmets, jerseys, pictures, footballs, all the stuff they wanted Tom to autograph,” Rudolph said.
But Rudolph didn’t make it seem like Brady was upsetting anyone by taking the extra spot.
Tom Brady’s locker at the Bucs’ practice facility was unique because it wasn’t just a stall.
Tom Brady had two lockers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers facility, says Kyle Brady (No. 8)
Instead, he marveled at Brady’s commitment to signing every last piece of memorabilia.
“At the end of the day, almost every day, he would sit there and sign everything,” Rudolph said.
Obviously, having two lockers is an extremely rare thing for NFL players. Teams have 53 active players on their roster, as well as 16 more on their practice squads, making facility space a valuable commodity.
But by giving Brady an extra locker, another player on the team can prevent his own locker from becoming the landing spot for every helmet, jersey and football card someone wants the future Hall of Famer to sign.
And Brady’s willingness to autograph anything his teammates and coworkers left near his locker likely helped his reputation around the facility.
Tom Brady signs autographs after New England Patriots training camp at Gillette Stadium
Brady has been accused of poor handwriting on his autographs, which one collector says ruined several pieces of memorabilia.
Glenn Gagnon of Glenn’s Stadium Heroes told WBZ-TV that although he witnessed Brady signing the items, Beckett Authentication Services refused to recognize the signature as belonging to the legendary quarterback.
“We brought them in to see if (Beckett) would accept that as Brady’s autograph,” Gagnon said in April. “We got rejection letters. It’s not Brady’s signature, even though he signed it.”
Of course, Brady’s situation in Tampa was nothing compared to what San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds enjoyed in that team’s locker room. As reported several times over the years, Bonds had four lockers, plus his own television and a leather recliner.