One New Englander went the extra mile in her passion for the Patriots by making Tom Brady‘s autograph a permanent fixture on her body — and she couldn’t be happier.
When Megan Uhrynowski, 19, visited the Patriots’ training camp on July 30 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, she and a friend were dead set on getting an autograph from the legendary quarterback who celebrated his 41st birthday on Friday.
“I’ve been a Patriots fan my whole life,” Uhrynowski tells PEOPLE. “Tom Brady is just an icon of sports and someone that I’ve always looked up to for a long time.”
When Brady finally approached Uhrynowski and dozens of fans who fought for his attention, Uhrynowski knew she had to act quickly to get his attention — so she shouted that she would get a tattoo of his signature if he signed her arm. The tactic worked, and Brady looked Uhrynowski in the eyes, smiled, and signed her with a marker.
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“Getting Brady’s autograph was the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me so far,” Uhrynowski says. “I mean, it was unbelievable seeing him so close and have him look me in the eye and actually touch me.”
At that moment, Uhrynowski, a student at Sacred Heart University, had no doubt she was going to follow through on her promise.
While Uhrynowski was ecstatic, her parents weren’t exactly keen on having their daughter get such a big tattoo on her forearm, she told the Connecticut Post. After some discussion, Uhrynowski decided she would instead get a smaller version of the autograph tattooed above her wrist.
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The next day, Uhrynowski visited a local tattoo shop, and in under an hour, she and Brady became forever intertwined.
“The tattoo artist was a little bit surprised,” she says. “But they said it was one of the coolest signatures they have ever done.”
It didn’t take long for Uhrynowski to show off her ink, as she took to Twitter and Facebook with pictures as proof of her encounter with Brady. The photos quickly captured the attention of NFL fans, who didn’t shy away from expressing their admiration of the tattoo.
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Days after getting the ink, Uhrynowski says she has no regrets.
“Everyone has loved it, they say it’s so cool that I did that. It was an experience I will never forget,” she says. “I literally fall in love with the tattoo more and more, and I have zero regrets for getting it — it’s going to be a part of me for the rest of my life.”
