A close friend of Tom Brady's said Wednesday he was not at all surprised to read that the New England Patriots quarterback had destroyed his cellphone in March.
"I know every couple of years he has changed phones, and he has been doing this since he won his first Super Bowl," Aaron Shea, a friend and former teammate of Brady's at Michigan, said via text on Wednesday.
Reached by phone for an interview to discuss the issue further, Shea said he knows Brady has regularly changed his number.
"Is that the same as destroying his phone?" Shea said. "I don't know. But I know he gets rid of his phone regularly. If I were him and married to the woman he's married to, I know I would get rid of my phone after all these high-profile people have had their phones and personal information hacked."
News that Brady had destroyed a cellphone was released as part of commissioner Roger Goodell's decision to uphold Brady's four-game suspension.
Brady was suspended for allegedly taking part in deflating footballs below permissible standards in the AFC Championship Game in January.
The league said that Brady destroyed the cellphone or directed that it be destroyed on March 6, around the time Ted Wells was conducting his investigation into the deflated footballs.
In a statement, Brady said he replaced a broken cellphone after his attorneys made it clear he would not surrender the phone to investigators.
He also said he was never made aware that failing to provide his cellphone would result in discipline.
Shea said Brady had to change his phone at least twice in the offseason after the QB and the Patriots won their first Super Bowl following the 2001 season.
That practice continued throughout Brady's career, Shea said, adding that he and a small circle of Brady's friends regularly receive notice from Brady of his new number.
He said Brady does his best to protect his and his family's privacy, and that Brady is "very" concerned about keeping his personal life private.
Shea added that when the original Wells report on the Patriots and deflated footballs was released May 6, it included Brady's number without the final four digits.
Shea said he believes Brady changed his number at that point to avoid someone figuring out the four digits, and he's been out of touch with many since.
Shea said he does not believe Brady cheated in any way.
"It's not him," Shea said. "Since I've known him, he's been honest and straightforward.
"Even at Michigan, he was the guy who would tell people to go to class, that kind of thing.
"Tom is my son's godfather, and I picked him for a reason. He told me it was an honor," Shea said.
Brady and Shea, a tight end, became friends when they were Michigan teammates from 1996-99.
Brady was in the wedding party when Shea got married in 2003, and Shea was featured in "Brady 6," a documentary about Brady and the six quarterbacks taken ahead of him in the 2000 draft.