'Huge honor': Weymouth artist's Tom Brady portrait is part of NFL's new SoFi Stadium digs

Weymouth’s Rich Pellegrino got his G.O.A.T – in all the best ways.

He is one of 22 artists from eight nations to contribute to an expanding mural in the Creators & Gamechangers Hall at the NFL’s West Coast headquarters in L.A.’s SoFi Stadium Park, the site of Sunday's Super Bowl LVI.

Pellegrino created the Tom Brady portrait for the 600-foot mural featuring the NFL’s greatest characters and game-changers. So far, there are 34 such renderings in the league’s new regional digs, which opened in September. Others include Payton Manning, Vince Lombardi, Bo Jackson, Bill Belichick, Jim Thorpe, Joe Namath and William “The Refrigerator” Perry.

On Sunday, the focus will be on game-day content, but Pellegrino’s portrait could still divert some attention in the wake of Brady’s recent retirement, forsaking the NFL of its most iconic star. The league made a video about the creation of the new hall of portraits and maybe the two-minute spot will make it onto the NFL Network in the run-up to the game?

"They're focusing teams, I'm told," Pellegrino said. However, he adds, "Brady is highlighted quite a bit in the video."

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Brady, 44, is possibly the greatest player the league has ever seen. During his 22-year career, he won seven Lombardi Trophies, six with the Patriots, and recorded the most wins, passing yards and touchdowns.

Pellegrino recalled last spring, “The NFL reached out to me and said, ‘If you don’t mind illustrating Tom Brady for us,’ and I’m like ‘Yes, please.’ Doing Tom Brady, the best of the best, was a huge honor. ”

Pellegrino is a longtime fan, growing up watching Brady play at Gillette Stadium, 20 miles from his hometown of Cranston, Rhode Island.

“Being from this area and having been to so many games … as far as a career milestone, I guess this would be it,” he said.

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He said the NFL asked him to create something worthy of royalty.

“They consider him like Jerry Rice, Bill Belichick, Tom Landry, guys on a different tier. So, they’re very cautious about how he’s presented. It’s probably the most pressure I’ve ever had.”

Pellegrino struck upon the concept of a “conqueror of all the conquerors.”

“He’s the Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan of football players,” he said. “With that warrior king kind of mentality and competitiveness, I wanted it to look like he was battle damaged, but still strong, stable and ready to strike the opposition.”

The portrait shares a wall with Eric Dickerson, the Hall of Fame running back for the Rams, who will face the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Brady is bearing armor and a burnt orange cape. He clutches a ball, eye-black atop his cheekbones, striking a dynamic pose as if he’s running play-action. Embedded are nods to Brady’s accomplishments and legacy. The Patriots’ “Flying Elvis” logo and the team’s red-and-blue colors are illustrated on his midsection.

“I kept the Bucs stuff off the body because 20 years with the Patriots, that’s who he is,” said Pellegrino. Brady spent the final two years of his career as QB for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “I did put the Bucs (2020) Super Bowl ring on the middle finger because I think he’s a little bitter about how things happened.”

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The football Brady clutches is sterling silver – like the Lombardi Trophy – with seven stars to represent each of his Super Bowl victories. The word “GOAT” is written on the shoulder, “3-time MVP” has a spot on the torso and “6th round, No. 199” – Brady’s position in the 2000 draft – appears above the heart.

“That’s what he wears on his sleeve all the time,” Pellegrino said.

Additional New England nods were hidden in the illustration, but Pellegrino later removed them.

“They asked for some of the Pats stuff to be toned down and to remove some of the wrinkles because I made him too grizzled at first,” Pellegrino said, laughing.

The Brady portrait isn’t Pellegrino’s first high-profile project. He was commissioned by his favorite film director, Wes Anderson, to create a painting used in the film “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” That piece, an Egon Schiele-style erotic painting of two women, was destroyed by actor Adrien Brody in the movie.

“Much to my surprise, I didn’t know that was going to happen,” he said. The movie won four Oscars. Among them was one for the art department, including an individual statuette for each member of the team.

“Technically, I have one, but what I have is a keychain from Universal Studios with my name on it. I say it counts.”

Pellegrino is a 2006 graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and is a professor of illustration and comic arts at New England College in New Hampshire. He lives in the Idlewell neighborhood in Weymouth with his wife and two daughters, ages 5 and 7 months. He has done work for Blue Moon beer, Marvel Studios, Xbox and the hit AMC television series “Breaking Bad.” He also created a 75-foot print memorializing the late NBA star Kobe Bryant for an exhibit in China.

“I’m getting to work all my dream jobs,” Pellegrino said. “It’s definitely pinching yourself kind of stuff.”

Coverage of Super Bowl XLVI between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals begins at noon on NBC with NFL Films’ “Road to the Super Bowl,” followed by the Pregame Show at 1 p.m. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m.

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Reach Dana Barbuto at dbarbuto@patriotledger.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Weymouth artist's Tom Brady portrait part NFL's new SoFi Stadium digs