Tom Brady has always had an insane drive for competitiveness, so much so to the point where he was wagering running naked around a condo as a rookie. Brady wasn’t starting for the Pats when he was drafted. He was a 6th-round draft pick. He had no chance of overtaking franchise star Drew Bledsoe. Or, that’s what it seemed like at the time. In his rookie year, Brady rode the bench, and he wouldn’t even travel to some of the team’s away games. To stay competitive, he had to come up with creative solutions while on a rookie deal. He signed his first big contract with the Patriots in 2010, a 4-year deal worth $72 million, 10 years after he was drafted.
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For someone so hungry for competition and producing, being on the bench wasn’t easy for Tom Brady. That’s why he came up with ways for him and his teammates to stay engaged if they weren’t going to be playing in games. However, as rookies, they weren’t making a lot of money. So, bets became more and more of a hassle to make. Not for Brady though. He came up with some ridiculous ideas for how he could still place bets with his fellow teammates without having to break the bank.
Tom Brady and His Teammates Ran Naked Laps As Punishment
There are several books about Tom Brady out there given how big his legacy is, but one of the most insightful ones comes from authors Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge. Tom Brady and His Battle for Redemption is a book that details the highs and lows of Brady’s career.
Specifically, it gives great insight into Brady’s battle against the NFL during DeflateGate. However, the book does a great job going through Brady’s rise in the NFL. It details his life beyond football and how hard he had to work to overcome where he was drafted.
It also provides great stories about Brady’s competitive drive. For example, it details how Brady and some of his rookie teammates rented out a condo together to save costs and have company.
Brady lived with three roommates, former DE David Nungent, TE Chris Eitzmann, and LB Matt Chatham. These guys were all low draft picks and shared similar experiences of not getting starting reps or minutes.
So, their condo in Franklin, Massachusetts became a safe, shared space for them to interact and relax after grueling practices. Sherman and Wedge write, “Meanwhile, the Franklin condo became a post-practice safe haven for this crew of exhausted and battered young Patriots clinging to their coveted roster spots.”
The group found ways to stay engaged and competitive with each other, ranging from 3-ball to go-carting, and even Nintendo game nights. They would also regularly make bets with each other. However, as the group became wary of their spending, the wagers became more and more innovative.
“They didn’t have a lot of disposable cash in those days, so sometimes the wagering would take on a more creative form with public shame as the currency: a naked lap around the roundabout in front of the condo for the loser. It was largely a community with a lot of older couples, and naturally, this wasn’t the most family friendly display. Without fail, the loser would take his lap. And with similar certainity, the winners would lock the front door and close the garage, just long enough to make it sufficiently uncomfortable.”
It’s an extremely funny story, but it shows what lengths Brady would resort to getting his competitive needs satisfied. Of course, as time went on, he did find himself with more cash. Brady worked himself up to the biggest contract of his career (in terms of total value, according to Spotrac.com).
In 2010, he signed a four-year deal worth $72 million with the New England Patriots. A decade after people believed he wouldn’t amount to anything in the NFL, he was proving them wrong.
Brady Has a Different Meaning for Competition in Retirement
SportsIllustrated recently did a piece on how Brady would try to scratch his competitive itch now that he’s retired. For a man who worked 23 years with an insanely competitive drive, adjusting to retirement must have its difficulties.
Brady appeared on the Rich Eisen show to explain how he would tackle this problem, and it seems like he has a new interpretation of competition now that he’s retired.
Per SportsIllustrated, “I think there’s other competitive ways to kinda get those things out,” Brady explained. “I’ll be competitive in other areas for sure. I will be. It doesn’t necessarily need to be on a football field throwing footballs anymore. I can still do that. I’m just not going to do it competitively in a way, to be a part of an organization that way because that’s a huge commitment.”
“That commitment I don’t take lightly. I don’t think I ever took that commitment lightly. I thought I put 100 percent into everything, and I try to still put 100 percent into everything that I do. It just takes a little bit of a different shape or a little bit of a different direction, and you can see other areas where I’m trying to contribute, and I think I can be a part of different organizations and different places to help them be successful as well. I think that’s a big part of what my future looks like.”
