Tom Brady Biography
August 3, 1977
•
San Mateo, California
Football player
By the mid-2000s Tom Brady was the undisputed king age calculator in years
the gridiron. In 2002 he became the youngest quarterback in the history of the National Football League ( NFL ) to lead his đội to a Super Bowl victory. Two years later, in 2004, he proved the magic was still strong when he led the New England Patriots to their second Super Bowl tiêu đề in three years. In addition, Brady was named the Super Bowl’s Most Valuable Player ( MVP ) in 2002 và 2004. The dimpled, clean-cut quarterback had reached career heights that most veteran football players envied, và he had done it all before he was thirty years old .Football, football, and more football
Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. was born on August 3, 1977, in San Mateo,
California, the youngest child, and only son, of Galynn and Tom Brady. The
Bradys were a close-knit family, and they were all sports enthusiasts. The
three Brady girls (Maureen, Nancy, and Julie)
played every sport imaginable, including softball, soccer, and
basketball. Tommy, as his family calls him, always went to their games and
cheered them on. He also caught their competitive spirit. As Julie Brady
explained to
People Weekly,
“We used to compete for absolutely everything, and we pushed [Tom]
all the time.” The nightly battles to control the television remote
were especially fierce, and frequently the fighting took place with water
pistols.Brady’s interest in football started when he was very young. Some
of his earliest memories are of attending San Francisco 49ers games with
his family every Sunday when the team was in town. “The Niners were
my team,” enthused Brady in a
CBS Under the Helmet
interview. Brady was a particular fan of San Francisco quarterbacks Joe
Montana (1956–) and Steve Young (1961–). When not going to
football games, or watching football on television, Brady was playing
football. While attending St. Gregory’s elementary school in San
Mateo (where he was an altar boy), he played flag football and touch
football at recess and after school. His position? Quarterback.” Football has so sánh many elements of sports. It’s strength, và it’s tốc độ, & it’s quickness. It’s endurance. It’s toughness. It’s so sánh fast. It’s a great game to watch. It’s a great game to play. ”
Brady first played organized football as a freshman at San Mateo’s Junipero Serra High School, a Catholic all-boys school. By his junior year he was a starting quarterback, & by his senior year he was being noticed by college và pro scouts. During Brady’s high school quarterback career, he completed 236 of 447 passes ( 52.8 percent ) for 3,702 yards, và thirty-one touchdowns. The multi-talented Brady was also a star catcher on the school’s baseball đội, &, when he graduated from high school in 1995, he was recruited to play professional baseball for the Montreal Expos. Instead, he opted to accept a scholarship to play football for the University of Michigan ( U of M ), in Ann Arbor .I’m Going to Disney World!
In February of 2004, just hours after leading the New England Patriots
to their second Super Bowl victory, quarterback Tom Brady was whisked
away to join a whirlwind of celebrations. Where was he going? As he told
millions of fans who were watching their television screens,
“I’m going
back
to Disney World.”Brady joined a long line of athletes who have been featured in one of television’s most famous advertising campaigns. In the ad, immediately following the game, a narrator asks, ” You’ve just won the Super Bowl ! What are you going to bởi next ? ” The player responds, ” I’m going to Disney World ! ” The first ad, which aired in 1987, focused on Phil Simms ( 1955 – ), quarterback for the New York Giants, winners of Super Bowl XXI. The ” What’s next ? ” commercials became so sánh famous that the phrase ” I’m going to Disney World ” became a part of American pop culture .
In 2004 Brady was going back to Disney World because he had already been there following his first Super Bowl chiến thắng in 2002. Only three other NFL players have been featured twice in the commercials : Joe Montana ( 1956 – ), Emmitt Smith ( 1969 – ), & John Elway ( 1960 – ). Many of the players, lượt thích Brady, are MVPs, but not all. As Disney senior vice president of kinh doanh Ken Potrock explained on PR Newswire, ” We select players based on success in the field và a Cinderella-type story. ”
Brady definitely fit the bill. In both 2002 & 2004, he led his đội to a storybook finish, so sánh what better way to celebrate than with a fairy-tale ending. On February 2, the fairytale came true. Just one day after his Super Bowl win, Brady và his mother were riding through the streets of Disney’s Magic Kingdom & thousands of fans, including Mickey Mouse, cheered the latest Super Bowl hero .Life as a Wolverine
During his first two years as a U of M Wolverine, Brady warmed the bench as a backup quarterback for future NFL stars Brian Griese ( 1975 – ) & Scott Driesbach ( 1975 – ). He was frustrated by his lack of play, & at one point, considered transferring back to California. However, Brady stuck it out, và in 1998, his junior year, he earned the starting quarterback position. He went on to earn an All – Big Ten Conference honorable mention ; he was an Academic All – Big Ten Pick ( he had a 3.3 grade point average ) ; & he phối several University of Michigan records, including the record for most attempts ( 350 ) và completions ( 214 ) in one season. Brady also led the Wolverines to victory at the Citrus Bowl in 1999 và was named đội co-captain the same year. In 2 ngàn he became đội captain .
Despite his success, Brady faced a setback his senior year when he was forced to chia sẻ his quarterbacking duties with teammate Drew Henson ( 1980 – ). Henson was only a freshman, but he had been highly recruited in both football & baseball, and Wolverine coach Lloyd Carr feared that if not played, Henson might leave U of M in favor of a pro baseball career. Brady worked all the harder và completed the year by throwing the twenty-five-yard pass that brought victory to U of M kết thúc the University of Alabama in the 2.000 Orange Bowl. The Orange Bowl, lượt thích the Citrus Bowl is a post-season competition between two college football teams. The four most prestigious bowl games are the Orange Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, & the Rose Bowl. Bowl games are always played as close as possible to New Year’s Day .By the time his college career came to a close, Brady had won twenty of
the twenty-five games he started. He had arm strength and throwing
accuracy, and he believed his chances were good for being chosen to play
professional ball during the 2000 NFL draft. Things did not turn out as
Brady hoped, however. During the draft he was the 199th player chosen, and
he was picked up by the struggling New England Patriots. According to
sports analysts, coaches were leery of Brady. They questioned his speed,
but mostly they wondered why Henson, a freshman, had received so much
playing time at the University of Michigan over the more seasoned senior.
Brady showed up at the Patriot’s training camp determined to prove
himself. His U of M coach expected nothing less. “The more he gets
knocked down,” Carr commented to
People Weekly,
“the harder he competes. You can’t underestimate
Tom.”Stirs up a tired team
Although he was a fourth-string Patriot quarterback, Brady did not complain. Instead he watched & studied và prepared. He learned the Patriot playbook front to back, và he cơn bão the weight room to bulk up his six-foot-four-inch frame from 204 to 220 pounds. He also pelted veteran teammates with questions about ways to improve his on-field strategy. By the kết thúc of his first season, Brady had played in only one game, during which he completed one pass. The game was against the Detroit Lions, và the Patriots lost 34 to 9. The nhóm ended the season at the very bottom of the AFC East division with a record of five wins & eleven losses. The thirty-two football teams that are part of the NFL are divided evenly into two conferences : the American Football Conference ( AFC ) & the National Football Conference ( NFC ). Within each conference, there are four divisions : North, South, East, và West .
During the off-season, Brady continued to work on improving his game, & at the 2001 training camp he was one of the team’s most improved players. Brady so sánh impressed his coaches that he was named back-up to the Patriot’s star quarterback, Drew Bledsoe ( 1972 – ). On September 23, 2001, during the second game of the season, Bledsoe received a stunning blow to his chest, và barely made it off the field. A jittery Brady, who had not expected to play, stepped in to finish the game, which the Patriots ended up losing .With Bledsoe out of commission, it seemed that the Patriots were doomed to
face another losing season. However, as Brady began to get comfortable in
his new role, things began to change. “I’m a big fan of
Drew’s,” former Patriot safety Lawyer Milloy (1973–)
told Michael Silver of
Sports Illustrated,
“but it was obvious the team needed something different, and Tom
brought that youthful energy.” With the calm confidence of someone
much older than his twenty-four years, Brady helped the Patriots rack up a
string of wins. In 2000 they finished at the bottom of the heap; in 2001
they were AFC Division champions, and they were going to the Super Bowl.Packs a Patriot punch at the Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the top competition in football, played each year between the two teams who are leaders from the AFC & NFC divisions. It has become a major television sự kiện that is watched by millions of fans throughout the world. Going into the Super Bowl, the New England Patriots were considered the underdogs, even though they ended the 2001 season with eleven wins & five losses. For one thing, their Super Bowl track record was not good. They had only competed twice, và they lost both times. Plus they were being led by an inexperienced quarterback : Tom Brady. The St. Louis Rams were the hands-down favorite to chiến hạ Super Bowl XXXVI, scheduled for February ba, 2002 .
Regardless of the predictions, Brady was so calm before the big game that
he took a nap in the locker room. “When I woke up,” Brady
explained to Dave Kindred of
The Sporting News,
“I told myself it’s a football game. It just comes down to
playing football. I felt calm and confident.” Brady’s
confidence was key since the game turned out to be a nail-biting battle.
When the Rams tied things up with only one minute, thirty-nine seconds to
go, people expected the game to go into overtime. Brady, however, set up a
spectacular nine-play drive that positioned the Patriots for a field goal.
With mere seconds left on the clock, the Patriots defeated the Rams, 20 to
17.The Super Bowl thắng was only the beginning of Brady’s Cinderella story. He not only led his đội to victory, he was also named MVP of the game, & he phối a mới ra record as the youngest quarterback to chiến hạ a Super Bowl at twenty-four years và 184 days old. One of the previous record-holders was his childhood idol, Joe Montana. In addition, Brady emerged as a true leader of his nhóm, earning the respect of his coaches, teammates, và the sports press. According to sportswriter Paul Attner, ” he has embraced his position with a passion & intelligence rarely seen in the game. ” Analyst Phil Simms of CBS noted that Brady ” really knows how to play quarterback, how to interact with teammates, when to be their friend, when to be their leader và when to be their enemy when he has to. He can influence an entire franchise. ”
Sweet repeat
After the thrill of the Super Bowl, the following season was disappointing for the Patriots, và they did not make the playoffs. A determined Brady, however, rallied his đội in 2003. The season started off slow with two wins và two losses, but then Brady & the Patriots took off on a winning streak. After winning fourteen games in a row, they were headed, once again, to the Super Bowl .
Super Bowl XXXVIII, played on February 1, 2004, was a memorable match-up between the Patriots & the Carolina Panthers. The first half was agonizingly long as both teams fought hard to control the field. At half-time, the score stood at Patriots 14, Panthers 10. The second half of the game proved to be a humdinger. The two teams scored a combined 37 points in the fourth quarter, & with four seconds left on the clock, New England’s Adam Vinatieri made a forty-one-yard
field goal to thắng the game, 32 to 29. For the second phút giây in three years, the underdog Patriots took trang chủ the championship .For Brady, it was a sweet repeat. His game statistics were impressive : thirty-two completions in forty-eight attempts for 354 yards, và three touchdowns. He was named, once again, Most Valuable Player, & he broke another record by becoming, at age twenty-six, the youngest quarterback to chiến thắng two Super Bowls .Brady-mania
After his first Super Bowl win, Brady-mania swept the United States. Sportscasters could not heap enough praise on him, calling him meticulous, conscientious, và self-assured. Girls everywhere thought he was dreamy. Parents liked him, too. According to fellow teammate Larry Izzo, who spoke with reporter Michael Silver, ” Every mother & father in New England wants their daughter to be dating Tom Brady. ”
It seemed everyone was clamoring for the fresh-faced quarterback. Brady
was a judge for the Miss USA Pageant; his face beamed down from billboards
for the famous “Got Milk?” ad campaigns; and he was named
one of
People
magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People of 2002.” Just
before his second Super Bowl, Brady was even invited to be a special guest
at the White House for President George W. Bush’s January of 2004
State of the Union address.Brady seems to be handling his celebrity status with the same cool
approach he has toward playing football. As he told Silver in
Sports Illustrated
, “Look, I’m a football player, and when I think back to the
Miss USA pageant and all the other cool stuff I’ve done these last
few weeks, the most fun I’ve had by far was winning the Super
Bowl…. I know how I got here, and I’m going to devote myself to
helping my team win it all again.”In addition, throughout it all, Brady has remained very close to his
family, and perhaps it is thanks to them that he stays grounded. In an
interview with Brady’s hometown newspaper, the
San Mateo County Times,
Tom Brady Sr. put his son’s celebrity into perspective:
“Tommy’s a hometown boy and, generally, everybody likes to
see the hometown boy succeed.”
For More Information
Books
Lazenby, Roland, and Bob Schron.
Tom Brady: Sudden Glory.
Chicago: Triumph Books, 2002.Stewart, Mark.
Tom Brady: Heart of the Huddle.
Brookfield, CT: Mill-brook Press, 2003.Periodicals
Attner, Paul. “Brady’s Bunch: Super Bowl Preview.”
The Sporting News
(January 26, 2004): p. 16.Chadiha, Jeff. “The Brady Hunch.”
Sports Illustrated
(February 13, 2002): p. 46.Fraley, Malaika. “Brady’s Bunch: Neighbors, Family Bask in
‘Tommy’s’ Football Glory.”
The San Mateo County Times
(January 30, 2004).Kindred, Dave. “A Day of Red, White, and Blue—and
Brady.”
The Sporting News
(February 11, 2002): p. 64.King, Peter. “These Kids Can Play.”
Sports Illustrated
(November 11, 2002): p. 36.Silver, Michael. “Cool Customer: Fresh off a Storybook Season in
Which He Quarterbacked the Patriots to a Super Bowl Victory at Age 24, Tom
Brady Is Learning to Cope with the Blitz of Newfound Fame.”
Sports Illustrated
(April 15, 2002): p. 34.Tresniowski, Alex. “Super Cool Super Hero: A Benchwarmer Just Last
Year, Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady Proves Too Good for the
Rams—and Almost Too Good to Be True.”
People Weekly
(February 18, 2002): p. 54.Web sites
“Back in the Day with Tom Brady.” Interview transcript.
CBS Under the Helmet
(August 31, 2002)http://images.nfl.com/partners/aol/index.html?http://www.nfl.com/reebok/bid/tbrady.html
(accessed on May 31, 2004).
“Tom Brady biography.”
Official Web site of the New England Patriots.
http://www.patriots.com/team/personal.sps?playerid=566&playertype=1&image4.x=11&image4.y=7
(accessed on May 31, 2004).
Boyd, Wes and Pariser, Eli
Brown, Larry
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