FOXBOROUGH- Tom Brady was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame on Wednesday night. It was an amazing ceremony befitting of the greatest player of all-time, the greatest quarterback of all-time and the greatest Patriot of all-time.

NBC’s Mike Tirico emceed the event and he did a good job of hosting the three hour event. 

The induction reminded me of a Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony but with way more people. Over 55,000 fans turned out last night to honor Brady and Robert Kraft and the Patriots did not disappoint. 

The ceremony featured musical performances from Jay-Z and Kenny Chesney as well as the comedy of Bill Burr. Over 100 of Brady’s teammates showed up to honor him as did another 100 former Patriots. 

The ceremony had everything from panels with some of Brady’s former teammates to video packages from some of his biggest rivals including: Eli Manning, Ray Lewis, Michael Strahan, Ed Reed and Patrick Mahomes. The video got the biggest boos of the evening and rightfully so. 

As expected, Peyton Manning showed up in person and did an interview with Tirico and Brady. Manning told some great stories, was funny and he got a great reception from Patriots fans. 

Broadcasters Jim Nantz, Al Michaels, Joe Buck, Chris Berman and Rich Eisen were also featured in a congratulatory video. 

One of the highlights of the night was when former coach Bill Belichick was introduced by former Patriots receivers Deion Branch and Troy Brown. Belichick got s standing ovation that last well over two minutes. His speech was fantastic. No one tells a story quite like Bill Belichick. 

Arguably the two biggest highlights of the night were when owner Robert Kraft announced that Brady’s number will be retired and that the team will be placing a 12 foot statue of Brady in front of the hall of fame. You could have heard the reaction of the crowd all the way in Worcester. 

The evening concluded with Brady giving a great speech. The crowd went nuts when he said “I am Tom Brady and I am a Patriot.” It was an emphatic statement to end a great night.

Of course there will be those who will be critical of certain aspects of the ceremony, but the bottom line is, it was well done and it was a great representation of the Patriots and Tom Brady.