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- Tom Brady wore a special tape on his injured right thumb during the AFC Championship Game.
- That tape was sent to the Patriots a few days before the game after a demonstration for a mysterious doctor at a baseball convention.
- The kinesiology tape is becoming more popular among athletes and was first made famous by Olympic beach volleyball players.
The bizarre story of Tom Brady’s injured right hand during the AFC Championship Game has just taken another interesting turn.
According to a report from SportTechie, a website dedicated to the technology of sports, the tape used to protect the large gash and stitches in Brady’s hand was actually discovered the week before by a mysterious doctor at a baseball convention in Glendale, Arizona.
SportTechie spoke with Jacki Cassady, the brand marketing manager for KT Tape. She was working a booth at the annual conference for the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society, when she was approached by somebody who identified himself as a doctor who works with trainers for a few NFL teams, including the New England Patriots.
The doctor — whose name was unknown — asked about the company’s new line of kinesiology tape and how it “might help a very specific abrasion in a very particular area of the hand near the thumb.”
Cassady demonstrated the tape for the doctor and his assistant and arranged for some tape to be shipped to the Patriots. According to Cassady, as the doctor left the booth, he said, “Watch the games on Sunday, and see if you see your product.”
We now know that Brady had a large cut on his throwing hand, near his thumb, that required 12 stitches. We also know from photos that Brady was indeed wearing KT Tape to protect the wound and the stitches during the AFC Championship Game.
David J. Phillip/AP; Charles Krupa/AP
It is unknown whether the unnamed doctor was Alex Guerrero, Brady’s personal health guru. Guerrero is not a doctor, but he has been sanctioned in the past for “falsely presenting himself as a medical doctor,” according to The Boston Globe.
Kinesiology tape has become increasingly popular among athletes in many different sports. While the tape itself is not new, this particular line appears to be, and, more important, it was not designed to protect wounds or stitches. According to KT Tape, the tape is “designed to relieve pain while supporting muscles, tendons, and ligaments.”
The tape was first made famous by beach volleyball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
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