Bill Belichick reacts to Kevin Faulk wearing Brady jersey at draft

Former New England Patriots running back Kevin Faulk made a silent - but loud - statement on Friday night as he read the Patriots' third-round draft picks from the NFL Draft in Chicago wearing a No. 12 Tom Brady jersey in support of his friend and former teammate, who remains embroiled in a legal battle with the NFL over Deflate-gate.

While Patriots fans all over loved Faulk's move, standing there proudly as the NFL's Troy Vincent introduced him, they weren't the only ones.

On Saturday night, after the conclusion of the draft, New England coach Bill Belichick was asked about Faulk's choice of attire.

"He always makes good decisions," Belichick said with a big smile. "He looked sharp out there."

De-facto general manager Nick Caserio said something similar about Faulk, who is one of three finalists for the franchise's Hall of Fame this year: "That's why Kevin Faulk is a potential member of the Patriots Hall of Fame. We all love Kevin Faulk."

Faulk appeared on Boston radio station WEEI on Sunday morning and told the story of how he came to be standing on stage at the Auditorium Theater, hands on hips, chest puffed out like a rooster to show off that navy blue jersey (interview starts at 12:50 mark).

"It was about showing the love and respect for a teammae, a friend, a brother who I've known for a long time," Faulk said. "Someone gave me a call and was like, 'hey, do you think you can do this?', I was like, 'I'm not sure. I don't have a Tom Brady jersey.' He said, 'We think we can make that happen for you.'

"They got the jersey to me and it went from there. The only thing was, I was nervous about how far they would let me get before somebody would say something about it."

No one said anything, and Faulk was able to make his statement.

And Brady either saw it live or heard about it, because he quickly sent Faulk a text to say "thank you for showing the support, thank you for showing the love," Faulk said.