Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady Claims to be Using the Same Shoulder Pads Since 1995

According to New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, his shoulder pads have accompanied him for 25 years now and will still be his partner in NFL.

In an exclusive interview on Quick Slants podcast, Brady explained why he’s so attached to his shoulder pads.

“I’ve worn them for 25 years,” Brady said. “They’ve gotten reconditioned a little bit, but I think once?you find something you like, you kind of stick with it. I’ve always kind of liked the way they felt, the shape of them. People have tried to put me in a lot of other ones.”

“They reconditioned (the shoulder pads) a little bit, but that’s the same plastic,” he said. “Same size. And sometimes the models change, and they don’t make the same ones as they used to.”

Recently, a rule change concentrating on enhancing player protection forced Brady and more notably so Antonio Brown to change their helmets. Fortunately, the NFL hasn’t forced?Brady to change his?pads. Brady opened up about why it was such a difficult transition to make.

“I’ve been wearing the same thing for, you know, forever,” he said. “You get used to one thing, one feel … this [helmet] is a pound heavier, so it’s 25 percent heavier on your head. That takes a lot of getting used to. I wish it was lighter. I tried to make it lighter and they couldn’t make it lighter.

“I mean, add 25 percent to everything. Add 25 percent to your pen, or 25 percent smaller keys on your keyboard, and tell me how that feels. It’s a little different.”

Former Michigan equipment manager Jon Falk, who worked with Brady at the start of his career did not seem surprised at Brady’s persistence with his gear.

“Douglas was out of Houston, Texas, and if a kid wanted something special on his pads, I’d call down to them and they would custom make them,” he said. “I remember Tom wanted lighter epaulets and caps. He wanted to cover down into the chest area. I knew we had a special pad cut for that type of protection.”

“It becomes a personal thing and you never want to mess with that. So as long as they’re happy, I’m happy. Quarterbacks always want to get their arms up, so we had to get special caps on their shoulder pads, and special epaulets. They were smaller, so you could raise your arm up and the flexibility was just unbelievable.”