Tom Brady Responds to Patriots Fan’s Plea to Stay

Ice skating in Boston has been a tradition for decades, and so has our love for our star athletes. The two intersected today, as Tom Brady acknowledged a fan's plea to remain with the New England Patriots.

It's no secret that Patriots fans have been on pins and needles all season with concern that Brady may retire or sign with another team as a free agent during this off-season. The Patriots have until March 17 to sign Brady, or he'll be on the open market.

Nobody ever called New England Patriots fans meek, and they have been pulling out all the stops to convince Brady and his family that he should wrap up his storied career in Foxboro, where the fairy tale began.

One fan even went to great lengths to shovel a not-so-subtle message directed to the future NFL Hall of Famer. A simple "Stay Tom" was shoveled into the lagoon at the Boston Public Garden. The message garnered enough media attention to get a response from TB12 himself. He posted it on his Instagram earlier today. The photo of the shoveled-off ice was accompanied by a "Love You All" message, followed by two red hearts.

One of my Facebook friends (who remains a friend even though he is a Chiefs fan) quipped about how arrogant Brady is to assume that the message was to him.

"There are a lot of Tom's in Boston," my friend said. "Why does he just assume that he's the Tom that people want him to stay?"

There are six rings that say it's more than just a hunch.