We don’t lie, folks. In honor of leading the Kansas City Chiefs to their second consecutive Super Bowl title, we thought we’d write an article about All-World superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Boy, are we going to rock! But the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, led by newly acquired QB legend Tom Brady, had other ideas. Brady signed a 2-year/$50 million deal with the Bucs after 18 seasons as New England’s primary starter, leading them to half of the Super Bowls (6 wins). While most NFL pundits predicted the Bucks would go something like 11-5 — which is precisely how they ended up doing — no one actually made the Super Bowl, much less won it. But that’s what happened. Brady and co. They took the Chiefs to the woodshed, winning 31-9 and earning Brady his 7th Super Bowl ring. Already considered the greatest quarterback of all time going into the season, this cemented his status. Here are some facts to know about goats.
1. Brady wasn’t good enough early on to start on his high school’s Chucky junior varsity football team
Tom’s football career got off to a rough start at Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, California. A backup on the JV team, the Padres went 0-8 and failed to score a touchdown all season. But after the starting QB got injured during Brady’s junior year, he took over and was the starter for the remainder of his HS career.
2. He’s almost a California Golden Bear
After attending the University of California-Berkeley, far from his home, he made a quiet commitment to sign with the Golden Bears. The obstacle was going to the University of Michigan. The coaches at UC reluctantly let him travel to Michigan, hoping they would win. Oops. Brady will sign with UM. Other colleges that made his final cut before choosing the Wolverines were USC, UCLA and Illinois.
3. A career in finance was his backup plan
During the summers of 1998 and 1999, Brady interned at Merrill Lynch, with aspirations of becoming a stockbroker if a professional football career didn’t work out. Playing for a major college program is a big deal, but even the best players have to be realistic about their chances. The reality is that less than 2% of college football players play pro at any given time.
4. He was the 199th player selected in the 2000 NFL Draft
Tom had a solid enough career at Michigan — starting his junior and senior seasons, finishing 20-5 and leading the Wolverines to two bowl victories — that NFL scouts weren’t all that impressed. As a result, he wasn’t selected until the 6th round – 199th overall – with 6 quarterbacks selected before him. Of those six, Spergen has started in 3 career games, while neither Giovanni Carmasi nor Dee Martino have played a single minute in the NFL.
5. He might be in the baseball business
Tom was an outstanding high school baseball player. A left-handed, power-hitting catcher, the Montreal Expos selected him in the 18th round of the 1995 MLB Draft. They tried to persuade Brady to sign, suggesting he would someday be an All-Star. However, the appeal of him earning $800 a month playing quarterback for a big-time college football program against the minor leagues was too much to resist.
6. Only Brady has won more Super Bowl championships than 14 NFL franchises.
Brady owns the New York Jets (1), New Orleans (1), Chicago (1), Philadelphia (1), Seattle (1), LA Rams (1) and the 8 teams that have yet to win a Super Bowl. It is still one less ring than a ring.
7. He is healthy and intelligent
At 43, Brady is the oldest athlete in the three major North American sports leagues, with anyone actually (sorry, hockey) baseball’s Albert Pujols (41) and basketball’s Udonis Haslem (40) leading their respective sports. . But unlike the other two, whose best days are many seasons behind him, he’s still at the top of his game. One of Tom’s secrets is that he’s an early-to-bed, early-to-rise kind of guy, hitting the hay at 8:30pm and waking the roosters at 5am. He doesn’t need coffee to cheer him up. According to Brady, he never drank so much coffee in his life, “I never tried it.”
8. He has a net worth of $200 million and yet his wife is very rich
Brady is married to supermodel Gisele Bondsen, who is worth $520 million. They have two children, son Benjamin Raine and daughter Vivian Lake. Tom has a son, John, from a previous relationship with actress Bridget Moynahan.
