The truth behind playing with Tom Brady and pranking Bill Belichick… Lawrence Guy reveals the craziest memories of his NFL career

Exclusive: Lawrence Guy has had a truly exceptional career in the NFL, with the legend retiring from the sport with memories that will last a lifetime.

The powerhouse who has just become a New England Patriots Keeper of the Light has looked back at some of his favourite stories.

WOW: ‘I went at it with Myles Garrett’… Terron Armstead opens up about his epic battle with the legend

Lawrence Guy reveals what Tom Brady is really like

Blessed with remarkable physical strength and an unrelenting will to win, Lawrence Guy established himself as a tremendous competitor, who more than earned the respect of Tom Brady, with whom he played alongside on many an occasion for the New England Patriots.

Now, the defensive tackle has opened up about what it was really like to play with the consensus greatest of all time.

In an exclusive interview with Sporf, Guy explained: “Tom was great. When people talk about a true leader, [he’s one]. There are leaders, and there are locker room leaders; he was both, and that was the unique thing about him. He knew everybody’s name, he spoke to everybody, he knew about your history; he’d want to have a conversation with you, he’d break bread with you.

“You hear stories throughout the league of, ‘This quarterback isn’t interacting with their teammates’, and he wasn’t that person. He was competitive, he would joke with you, he would talk trash on the field with you. When you talk about the NFL, when you talk about leaders, this is the person that you want to talk about. There’s this idea when people come in from high school or college and wonder what it’s like in the locker room, Tom Brady is the example you want to share.”

Lawrence Guy was hit in the face by a flying beer can while celebrating his Super Bowl win

While many would’ve been deterred by losing in their first attempt at Super Bowl glory, Guy refused to give up, emerging from the contest with added motivation to make his dreams come true.

At Super Bowl LIII, the warrior reached his sporting destiny, playing his part in a 13-3 win over the Los Angeles Rams for the Patriots. And in a reward for his performance, a fan nailed him in the face with a beer can while the champion was on a Boston Parade Boat.

The 35-year-old chuckled: “I got hit in the head and took it like a champ. They tell you as soon as you go in there, ‘There’s a chance you might get hit in the head’, and I’m like, ‘No, bro, I can dodge anything’. Then, all of a sudden, I got hit right in the face. When you’re in the moment, you don’t feel nothing, you just take it like a champ and keep going. I’ve seen worse. I saw someone get a black eye from it, I was like, ‘Bro, you’ve got to dodge it’. I was dodging them all day except for that one.”

Lawrence Guy pulled off a hilarious prank on Bill Belichick

Guy didn’t just bring his talent to the Patriots, but his sense of humour too, even leaving Bill Belichick amused with his Elf on the Shelf antics.

The athlete laughed: “He eventually found out it was me. I had it going for two years. Nobody knew it was me, but for a handful of people. I kept moving it and moving it until I got caught. Then, I got caught on the ladder. I was standing there with a 12ft ladder, climbing up in the middle of the locker room, while everyone else was going home. Someone was like, ‘What are you doing? I replied, ‘Nothing’, and they went, ‘You’re definitely doing something’. He gave a little smile and went, ‘Is that an elf’?

“Marcus Cannon kidnapped my elf. I was getting arms and legs from the elf for a while. I was like, ‘How is he going to do this to me’? But when I got it back, I put it where he does his podium, and that’s when everybody snitched on me. It was the most brilliant thing ever, he did that chuckle. He put it on the TV screen right after the game. I’ll never forget, during the next team meeting, it was just sitting there, and he totally ignored it. I was like, ‘I know he knows it’s me now’. He’s gonna look at me like, ‘Why are you doing this’? He looked at me like he was going to make the meeting run long, and he did a two-hour meeting because of that.”

The Lawrence Guy Family Foundation is doing amazing things

Guy isn’t just a champion on the field but off it too, utilising his platform to give back to those in need.

He explained: “The Lawrence Guy Family Foundation is amazing. My family and I get together and we discuss what we want to attack, and it’s stuff like food and security, making sure everybody has a notebook for the start of school, or our annual baby shower that’s coming up in December. We’re teaming up with Project Sweet Peas, where we’re going to have that essential stuff for mothers in need, from strollers to car seats, things that aren’t easy for everyone to get.

“We’re going to host that in New England at the Patriots’ stadium. They’re blessing us by giving us the venue. We’re going to make sure it’s an amazing day, especially coming up to Christmas, where everyone is trying to figure out what’s going on — are they going to be able to put something on the table, are they going to be able to use this car seat, how are they going to get around? So, we’re going to try and give them a blessed holiday.”

Featured Image Credit: New England Patriots