Tom Brady Stayed 'Positive’ Despite ‘Negativity’ During Final Season, Says Former Teammate

"He made me a better football player," Kyle Rudolph said of his former Tampa Bay Buccaneers teammate

Kyle Rudolph had nothing but great things to say about his time with Tom Brady as his quarterback.

As the Patriots celebrated Brady's career in New England Sunday, Rudolph, 33, recalled how Brady handled his final season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers amid a public divorce with Gisele Bündchen in an interview with NBC Sports.

"If anyone had the right to sometimes be an a--hole, it was Tom. He never was. Think of how tough a year it was for him off the field," he said.

Related: Tom Brady's Return to NFL 'Put a Strain' on Marriage with Gisele Bündchen: She 'Believes Enough Is Enough'

“The most amazing thing to me was, with all the negativity swirling around his life outside of football, he never carried it into the building," Rudolph later said, referring to Brady's divorce. "Always positive. I didn’t think it’d be possible when I walked into the team to be more impressed with Tom. But I was."

Rudolph, 33, called Brady “a great teammate” who would motivate him to remain in high spirits, even when he wasn’t scoring as many points as he would have liked. “He’d put his arm around me and keep me positive. He made me a better football player,” the tight end said.

He then revealed that the football Brady threw for his last ever touchdown pass is now in his Tampa office.

“So we’re in Atlanta, the last regular-season game of Tom’s career. And on the first drive of the game, I’m on the field, and he throws me the last TD pass of his career, his regular-season career. It was a big catch for me — my 50th touchdown in the NFL. That ball’s painted and in my office here in Tampa right now. It means so much to me,” he said.

Rudolph rounded out the discussion noting that it was admirable of Brady, 46, to never carry his burdens onto the field.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“I went to the Bucs to try to win a championship with the best QB ever, who wanted me in Tampa. I came in with expectations, and then never even played. I was a healthy scratch most of the year, and, honestly, it was really disappointing,” Rudolph said Sunday.

While speaking about Brady, he referred to his experience with him as “incredible.”

“First, the way he treated people. The way he treated the Glazer family [Bucs owners] is exactly the way he treated the janitor at 6:30 at night when he and maybe one or two other guys were the last players in the building,” Rudolph said of the famed quarterback.

He was also impressed with how Brady interacted with his teammates.

“Second, the way he treated his teammates,” the Ohio native explained before recalling how others regarded the former pro athlete.

“Tom had an empty locker next to him. I would look over there and every day, guys would put helmets, jerseys, pictures, footballs, all the stuff they wanted Tom to sign for them,” he said.

Related: NFL Player Says He Was Tricked Into Donating Gloves for Charity That Were Instead Sold on eBay

“There’d be notes on the stuff, a post-it note on a football — ‘Sign this for Jimmy, it’s his birthday.’ At the end of the day, almost every day, he’d sit there and sign everything,” Rudolph shared.

On Sunday, Brady was honored by the New England Patriots during halftime of their home opener. It was the first time since 1999 that the newly retired former NFL star was not under contract with any football team.

"I’ve talked a lot about how lucky I feel to have spent my life surrounded by such incredible people. Yesterday was just another reminder of that," Brady said on Instagram on Monday after taking the moment in.

"Coming back to New England to celebrate what WE accomplished was so special, and it’s a day that I’ll never forget," he added after having his No. 12 jersey retired.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.