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Tom Brady banner to come down at Gillette Stadium

GLENDALE, Arizona -- The large Tom Brady banner on the lighthouse at Gillette Stadium, as well as Brady's No. 12, will be taken down Sunday night, New England Patriots president Jonathan Kraft told 98.5 The Sports Hub.

Kraft, speaking during his weekly pregame interview, explained the purpose of the banner, saying, "From the end of the preseason to today, we wanted to symbolize the fact he is on everybody's mind and we love him."

But Kraft said the time is right to take it down, because Brady would be "the last person" who would want to be the center of attention once the regular season begins.

Kraft said construction crews were on hand at Gillette Stadium on Sunday night and will start working on taking the banner down once the team's game against the Arizona Cardinals begins.

On Thursday, Brady said of the banner on a radio interview with Westwood One, "I think it was a very cool gesture by Mr. Kraft and the team. I'll be excited to be back out there in October, when I'm there for real, but it was a really cool thing to do, and I was certainly very humbled and flattered to see it."