“Why do we fall? So that we learn to pick ourselves up” was one of the best pieces of advice Tom Brady received in his 23-year NFL career. And the seven-time Super Bowl winner overcame a lot of adversities to reach the pinnacle, powered by his work ethic and steely determination. Heeding advice from mentors ensured he remained on the right track both in the game and in life.
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According to Brady, his achievements wouldn’t have been possible without his “great mentors.” In a freewheeling chat with the School of Hard Knocks, Brady shared the “greatest advice” he can think of: to be “one’s best version.”
“Don’t worry about anybody else. So many times we lose track of what we are getting by focusing on others,” stated the GOAT before detailing the life-changing advice he received in college, which helped him to make the best out of each opportunity.
“When I was a sophomore in college, I had a sports psychologist mentor of mine, Greg Hardin — God rest his soul, he passed away about six months ago. And I would go and b*tch and complain to him that I was not getting the same opportunities that other guys were,” recalled Brady.
“And he sat me down in his office on a Tuesday afternoon and said, ‘Why don’t you quit b*tching about all the things that you are not getting and worry about the things that you are getting?’” he added.
And Brady applied that advice to his life to perfection. When Drew Bledsoe was injured in 2001, Brady, who then had limited experience in the NFL, led a fairytale run with the Patriots. That period cemented his position as the QB1.
This moment in Brady’s illustrious journey underscores the fact that even if you are waiting in the wings, if you train hard to excel yourself, you will make good use of the opportunity that comes knocking on your door. That’s a point to remember for young quarterbacks or athletes who are going through competition in their respective teams at the moment.
Brady had one more mentor to thank — his personal trainer, Alex Guerrero, who helped him tackle several adversities, including the 2008 ACL injury. “I had so many great mentors that taught me the right way. My best friend in the world, my brother Alex Guerrero, who is now running the entire health and wellness department for the Raiders,” he said.
“He [Guerrero] taught me a lot, and it was a lot of discipline that I learned through our work together about how to take care of my body that allowed me to do what I love to do for a long time,” Brady recalled.
In addition to the physical support, the mental well-being of Brady, which was taken care of by Alex and psychologists like Hardin, played a key role in Brady turning out to be an exemplary leader on the field. His former teammates, including Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman, still remember Brady as a “workaholic” who demanded that his teammates take that extra yard for the team’s benefit.
At the end, it all reaped rich dividends for Brady and the Patriots, helping him achieve what none of the other QBs could achieve in the NFL.
