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          New England Patriots

          Tom Brady meets star-struck Joe Mixon after game, plans to send him a jersey

          • Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff WriterDec 16, 2019, 04:00 PM
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              Mike Reiss is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the New England Patriots. Reiss has covered the Patriots since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2009. In 2019, he was named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. You can follow Reiss on Twitter at @MikeReiss.
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          CINCINNATI -- New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has a special delivery planned for Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon: his No. 12 jersey.

          Brady and Mixon met on the field after the Patriots' 34-13 victory against the Bengals on Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium, and later Mixon tweeted about how he regretted not asking Brady for the jersey.

          Brady, 42, explained that he saw the tweet from the 23-year-old Mixon on Sunday night and was flattered.

          "I'm going to send him one, because I saw that last night. It was pretty cool," Brady said Monday morning in his weekly interview on sports radio WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show."

          "I feel the same way about so many of these young players that inspire me. That guy is one of the great running backs in the league. There was a time when I was a young player and I looked up to so many guys. I think now that I'm on the other end of it, I understand kind of how it goes. You see these guys playing on TV, then you meet them, it's surreal.

          "I feel like that still with guys; I've been around Joe Montana and Steve Young and Jerry Rice and Brett Favre. Some of the greats. I feel the same way about them. It's just part of our nature. I think the NFL is a great camaraderie. As hard as we play, and as violent as the game is, I think there is a lot of respect that you really find in contact sports. Because you realize the level of commitment and dedication it takes."

          Mixon shared his experience of meeting Brady.

          "He was like, 'Great player, hell of a runner,'" he said after the game. "I was like, 'Dang, that's Tom Brady that said that.' I appreciate that. I was like, 'Good job, keep being you, keep being great.'"

          Mixon finished with 136 yards on 25 carries (5.4 avg.) against the Patriots, as the Bengals successfully ran the ball on their first eight plays of the game.

          The Bengals selected Mixon in the second round of the 2017 NFL draft out of Oklahoma. Patriots coach Bill Belichick said after the game that he is "as good as any back we've played all year."

          ESPN Bengals reporter Ben Baby contributed to this story.