Former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on March 20. Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press

In a closet in my home in Belfast, you will find a large, assorted amount of football jerseys.

Most of these jerseys are of quarterbacks who have won a Super Bowl. Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas, Terry Bradshaw, Brett Favre, Troy Aikman. I started the collection when I was in college, with the goal of owning a jersey of each Super Bowl-winning QB and keeping the tradition going for as long as possible. Some of the jerseys still fit. A decent number of them don’t (I was 185 pounds in college, I’m fairly bigger than that 12 years later). After 54 Super Bowls, I still have a LONG way to go before I’m completely caught up.

Dave Dyer wears his faded New England Patriots Tom Brady jersey. Kennebec Journal photo

But there’s one jersey I’ve worn the most — and have owned the longest — out of that collection. In fact, I’ve owned this particular jersey since October of 2001. My dad managed to grab it among the first batch available at JCPenney at the Maine Mall in South Portland, when this player first became relevant. Miraculously, it still fits (my dad must have known I was going to balloon in my adult years). If you look at it now, it’s a shell of its former self. The numbers are well worn out, the lettering cracked. It’s survived two trips across the United States. It’s occasionally been tugged around by a 3-year old child. There’s a stain or two from football parties gone by.

But boy, has this jersey seen some glorious years.

And as of March 20, this jersey will never be worn again. If you haven’t figured it out by now, it’s the jersey of former New England Patriots quarterback — and new Tampa Bay Buccaneer — Tom Brady.

It was a really tough call to want a Brady jersey during the 2001 season. If you need a quick reminder, Brady was a backup that season to Drew Bledsoe, who had been firmly entrenched as the starter since being taken with the No. 1 pick in the 1993 NFL Draft. On September 23, 2001 — the first game played after 9/11 — the Patriots hosted the New York Jets at the old Foxborough Stadium. Bledsoe scrambled — lumbered might be a better term — toward the sideline before being viciously hit by Jets linebacker Mo Lewis, knocking Bledsoe out of the game. Brady took over in his place. The course of history — both for the Patriots and the National Football League — was about to change.

After nearly 19 years, this Tom Brady jersey has seen wear, tear and a couple of salsa stains. Kennebec Journal photo by Dave Dyer

After leading the Patriots to a few wins, head coach Bill Belichick decided Brady would remain the starter over Bledsoe. As a fan, I was incredibly torn. Bledsoe was my first football hero. I wore No. 11 through my Pee-Wee football years in his honor. I had even managed to snag an autograph from him during warmups before a 1999 regular-season game against the Indianapolis Colts. As a 14-year old at that point, it was the highlight of my young life.

But I couldn’t help but feel a connection to Brady. He was a sixth-round draft pick from Michigan that nobody wanted. Though he was 24-years-old at the time, he seemed like a teenager going through his awkward stages during weekly press conferences. And he almost always wore a backwards baseball cap. In 2001, I was a sophomore and a backup quarterback on the Massabesic High School football team. Outside my family and a couple of friends, no one believed I should have been a starter. I, too, wore my baseball cap backwards, and there was absolutely no question I was going through my awkward high school phase. As such, I asked my dad to grab a Brady jersey.

The jersey has been worn for each of the six Super Bowls that Brady has won as the Patriots starter and, sadly, each of the three that he’s also lost. Right from the midpoint of the 2001 season until Brady’s final pass, a pick-six to former teammate Logan Ryan as the Pats fell 20-13 to the Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card round on January 4. There was a time — from 2009-2011 — where the jersey was sheltered for a while, but for good reason, as I was covering home games for the Biddeford Journal Tribune.

My plan was to retire the jersey when Brady retired. But I also imagined him ending his career as a Patriot. When Brady officially signed with the Buccaneers, I officially decided the jersey will permanently remain in the closet.

I have no plans to throw it away, burn it, or discard it in any way. Much like my appreciation for the player, I can look at my jersey and think of the happy times. Super Bowls won, watching games with my family. Heck, I even appreciate the salsa stains. That jersey brings nothing but positive thoughts and a smile to my face.

I may break it out one more time, when Brady is inevitably enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. For now though, it’s the end of an era, in multiple ways.