"I want that seventh ring" - The story of how Tom Brady almost took the number 7 jersey in Tampa Bay

Tom Brady's number twelve jersey is now iconic, thanks in part to the performance of the greatest quarterback who ever played in the position in the NFL. As a member of the Patriots organization for 20 seasons, Brady made the number twelve synonymous with words such as champion, winner, and determination.

Perhaps this is why it has been a rather surprising revelation that Brady almost chose the number seven as his jersey instead of twelve when arriving in Tampa as the newest member of the Buccaneers.

This is how Tom Brady almost wore the number 7 jersey in Tampa

Author Lars Anderson has written a book titled "A Season in the Sun: The Inside Story of Bruce Arians, Tom Brady, and the Making of a Champion."

There have recently been many excerpts from the book disclosed, many of them speaking about how Tom Brady was wooed over to the Buccaneers organization and away from the New England Patriots.

One of the intercepts went into great detail about how Brady almost chose to wear the number seven instead of his now iconic number twelve.

March 2020 lives in glory for the Buccaneers organization

On March 18, 2020, which was the first day the new league year opened up, Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht and Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians were on a call with Brady in an attempt to get him to come play for them.

During the call, they spoke of many things, and Brady confessed his admiration for the current roster as well as the many seasoned quarterbacks that Bruce Arians has coached over the years.

Brady was really impressed at not only their production but the relationship that Arians seemed to have with each of them.

After a while, it became apparent that Brady was definitely on board to sign with the Bucs. However, there was one bit of information left to tend to and that was the jersey number for Brady.

Licht informed Brady that the number twelve jersey was currently occupied by Pro Bowl receiver Chris Godwin and asked whether Brady had any issues with that. Brady had no issues but did have a suggestion:

"Oh, he's a great player. I'm not going to take his number. I don't care about that. You know what number I'm thinking of? I'm thinking of taking maybe number seven. Is that available?"

Brady was advised that it was indeed available, but why the number seven jersey? Brady followed up with a simple statement:

"I want that seventh ring."

For some people, being great just isn't good enough.

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