The Claggs lived practically in the shadow of Gillette Stadium, and the twists and turns of the NFL neighborhood franchise served as a kind of marker for their own life events. In January 2002, the Patriots won the Tuck Rule Game, putting them on the road to their dynasty’s first Super Bowl victory. That game was also the last one that Jack watched with his wife, Nancy, who died in November of that year after a recurrence of breast cancer that she fought several years earlier. The seats that Nancy’s family had at the old Foxboro stadium moved to Gillette that fall, and her husband and children would continue to practice the Patriots fandom that she shared with them so fervently.
For Mark, who was born in 1998, Brady was the Patriots’ quarterback for most of his life. His sports model worked on the same street. You can imagine his surprise when he heard that he, Foxborough High’s QB, was being used to motivate Brady.
This created a great story that Mark would later tell his girlfriend’s parents when he met them – and at many subsequent dinner tables with them since – but there was a lesson in humility and a willingness to be trained hard that stayed with him. He started playing for the Salve Regina football team III in 2017, which was a big difference from his experience as a top athlete and son of the community in Foxborough. “It was not so easy to win the coach’s respect,” recalls Mark. “You had to be very humble and keep that advantage in your head in order not to lose confidence.”
