His rookie year, Gay beat out cornerback Christian Morton, the Patriots' 7th-round draft pick, for a place on the roster.

Later in the season, Gay was placed into the starting lineup because of injuries to veterans Ty Law and Tyrone Poole.

Gay's rookie season concluded with a victory in Super Bowl XXXIX, in which he started opposite Asante Samuel where he was the leading tackler with 11 solo tackles.

Gay was involved in several low level controversies as a Patriot: He failed to make a full contribution in 2005 and 2006, due to injuries that landed him on injured reserve.

This led to some long running criticisms from the tough vocal New England fans and repeated questions about him on the region's talk shows and in the papers.

Hence, after failing to deliver up to expectations of New England Patriots fans in both the 2005 and 2006 seasons, before the 2007 training camp, Gay was quoted as saying:[1] You know how it is, It's like, 'Oh man, you're still getting a paycheck?'