By the time Tom Brady retired, after winning a staggering seven Super Bowls, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who would take issue with calling him the G.O.A.T when it comes to NFL quarterbacks.
Brady may be the most focused athlete we’ve ever seen who was able to maintain it for so long.
When Brady was selected 199th overall in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots, there were many skeptics out there on his NFL prospects. But the kid was a baller and worked like a maniac.
Just think, he wasn’t even supposed to be a starter for the Patriots. That job was held for Drew Bledsoe until the veteran suffered a collapsed lung and internal bleeding in a ’01 regular season contest vs. the Jets. In steps Brady and the rest is history, as the 24-year old, second year quarterback from Michigan leads New England through the rest of the ‘01 season and to an eventual title over the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.
Not to pile it on, but Brady was also one of People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People in ‘02 and Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year in ‘05.
Tom Says
After winning Super Bowl XXXIX over the Eagles:
“We never self-proclaimed ourselves anything.We just love playing football. I know it sounds cliché, we keep saying we are just a team but we are.”
On his performance in a Super Bowl victory over the Panthers in 2003:
“I don’t know how I do it. We just were trying to keep our poise. You realize in games like this you’ve got to play for 60 minutes. We made enough plays toward the end to win it. … That’s what happens in Super Bowls.”
On being a leader:
“I’m more comfortable in a leadership role. Because of that, my personality comes out a bit more. If I want to say something, I say it.”