BOSTON (CBS) — Throughout his career, everyone has seen how fired up Tom Brady gets following a New England Patriots score.

More times than not, he’s right there to celebrate with his receivers after they’ve hauled in a touchdown pass or running backs after they’ve barreled into the end zone. Sometimes he even sprints down the field after a long scoring strike, not wanting to miss a second of all the end zone fun.

But prior to that celebration, you may notice a little glimmer of fear in his teammate’s eyes. It has nothing to do with opposing defenses or concern that too much celebrating will earn them a penalty and cost New England 15 yards.

They’re worried about No. 12 himself, and his physical way of celebrating touchdowns. Many times this season, Brady has broken out a trio of headbutts that have the ferocity of a Rob Gronkowski spike.

“All of a sudden he’s a foot away from you, head-butting you three times,” receiver Brandon LaFell told The Wall Street Journal. “I’m like, hey, man, calm down.”

LaFell has been on the receiving end of seven of Brady’s 32 touchdown passes this season, his first in New England, and he wasn’t expecting the somewhat over-the-top celebrations from his new quarterback.

“The way he carried himself, I thought he was always so laid-back,” said LaFell. “All of a sudden he’s screaming, he’s yelling, you have no idea what he’s saying. It’s an experience that catches you off-guard.

“You’re just glad you have your helmet on,” added LaFell.

It’s not just overzealous headbutts either. Brady may get stiffed on a few high-fives here and there, but when he delivers he makes them count. And sometimes, you don’t know which celebration to expect.

“You’ve got to—got to—be prepared for his head-butts and high-fives, because they are coming…You’ve got to brace yourself. It doesn’t look like much coming at you but it’s intense,” said rookie receiver Brian Tyms. “If he throws the ball 50 yards and you run 50 yards and score, he’s going to run all 50 yards and head-butt the hell out of you.”

“We don’t know what he’s going to do,” said running back Jonas Gray, who experienced Brady’s celebratory wrath four times in Week 11 against the Colts.”We don’t know if he’s going to go either way.”

Gray said your best bet is to just stick your hand out, and hope for the best.

New England’s defensive players are at just as much risk as their offensive players. Just ask safety Devin McCourty, who found himself in Brady’s path during pregame warm-ups earlier this season.

“I didn’t know he’d come that hard. My helmet was loose, so I felt it,” said McCourty.

McCourty also told The Wall Street Journal that Brady’s favorite targets on the field, Gronkowski and Julian Edelman, and their 15 combined touchdowns this season add to the veteran’s excitement.

“He’s like the big brother,” McCourty said. “He’s the old wise guy at the top of the hill teaching everybody and loves watching them do well.”

The Patriots have been doing very well in the scoring department as of late, scoring 30 or more points in five of their last seven games.

No wonder his teammates are getting sick of those headbutts, but let’s hope they keep coming into February.

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