It’s almost hard to imagine Tom Brady as anything except for the face of the NFL. However, there was a time when even the greatest football player ever struggled romantically.
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Present day, Tom Brady has a couple of things he can brag about. He’s won 7 Super Bowls in his career, which is more than any franchise has won, let alone another player, he’s still playing lights out at 44 years old, and he’s on track for a potential 8th ring.
Even off the field, Tom Brady is a winner. He recently launched his new apparel brand called “BRADY” and he’s happily married to Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen with 3 children.
However, there was once a time, before the fame and Super Bowls, when Tom Brady could walk into a bar without being recognized. Obviously, this changed once he led the Pats to their first championship in his sophomore season, but as a rookie, very few had ever heard of the QB.
He was famously selected in the 6th round of the 2000 NFL draft, 199th overall to be exact, and didn’t exactly look to be a star right out the gates. Despite being impressive at Michigan, he was un-athletic and there were red flags about his college coaches’ desire to continuously replace him with Drew Henson.
Still, Bill Belichick decided to make the unusual decision of keeping 4 QBs on his roster to avoid losing Brady, but didn’t use the rookie very much at all. In fact, during his entire rookie season, Brady only made one appearance which came in week 13 garbage time against the Lions where he completed a single pass for 6 yards.
Tom Brady Apparently Didn’t Have Much Luck Picking Up Girls at Bars
It is, therefore, unsurprising that Brady got little recognition as a rookie, even in Boston. It was pre-social media, he had only played once, and he wasn’t a highly touted prospect entering the league, either.
David Nugent, a Defensive End with the Patriots at the time who was also Brady’s roommate , recalled how his friend would strike out at bars.
“He’d be trying to talk to girls at the bars and they wouldn’t give him the time of day, and we’d all be laughing about it,” he explained. “Obviously, that changed.”
Changed, it has. It’s incredible to think that the same kid who could walk into a bar unrecognized like that is now the greatest football player 2o years later, and still hungry for more.
