Patriots quarterback Tom Brady explains why he’s still going at 41
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is on a personal quest to reinvent professional football longevity as we know it.
At 41, and just one victory against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday away from playing in the AFC Championship Game for an unprecedented eighth straight season, he’s pretty damn close. But Brady’s desires go beyond just playing well into his 40s, and it’s something Brady feels like he ‘has’ to do, as explained on the “Why Sports Matter” podcast released Tuesday.
“Once you stop, you’re done,” Brady, who recorded the podcast before the start of the regular season, began. “I still feel there’s things to accomplish. And I’ve had an opportunity, based on all the things that happened the last 12 years of my life to put myself in a position to achieve things that no one else has achieved.”
To Brady’s credit, he’s almost running out of things to accomplish. He’s already won more Super Bowls than any other quarterback in NFL history (five), and if that’s not enough, he’s also been to more (eight) than any other. His 27 playoff victories are 11 more than Joe Montana’s 16, and Brady seemingly broke a new sort of yards record every week in 2018.
Still, it’s not enough, as Brady remains driven to up his ‘G.O.A.T’ status with even more rings and accolades.
There’s also the fact that Brady feels like he can truly be his authentic self when on the football field.
“When I’m out on the field in front of 70,000 people, I can kind of do what I want,” Brady, who begins every gameday on-field approach with a fiery scream towards the crowd, said. “I can really be who I am. I get to be me, with my raw emotion and energy. If I want to scream at somebody, I can scream at somebody. But you don’t really see me do that any place else.”
“I don’t trust a lot of people,” Brady offered. “That’s probably why I love football so much.
“Because it allows me to be who I am in a very authentic way that is hard for me to be when I walk off the field.”
Brady and the Patriots will look to keep their season rolling with a win over the Chargers this Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
