Why I Like Tom Brady

Ever have someone question your sanity? Or why you like something?

Heck… every question that within yourself?

Like… why do you like salt and pepper on apples? Or fries dipped in honey? Or pizza and ranch dressing? Or Tom Brady?

If you’ve followed me or know me or heard about me or are aware that I exist, then you are familiar with my love for the accomplishments of Tom Brady, the Greatest and Most Accomplished QB of All Time.

And if you’re like most people not living in the Boston area, you may wonder why and how I came to admire such a man who left his wife for supermodel Gisele Bundchen, been ‘busted’ for ‘cheating’ and generally gives other Pretty Boys a bad name because he’s so, well… pretty.

Well… let me clue you in one something… I don’t admire the MAN. I admire the accomplishments. Unlike most people, I can and am able to, separate the person from the achievement.

I’m not going to get into the whole cheating thing because you’ll be reading all day if I do. Let’s just cap that conversation with the premise that I don’t really care for reasons that sound like rationalization, but really aren’t to anyone who doesn’t like him. That’s a tired argument and irrelevant to my point, quite honestly.

Why do I like Tom Brady so much? Blame Emmitt Smith. (No, really… and I’ll get to it later…)

Same reason Bill Laimbeer is my favorite basketball player while growing up.
Same reason why Bill Romanowski is one of my favorite linebackers of all time.
Not really the same reason I like Barry Bonds so much, but we’ll touch on him later.

Effort. Heart. Accomplishment. Leadership. The ability to rise above a situation and perform when others fold under pressure. Notice I didn’t say talent.

Tom Brady wasn’t a top-rated QB coming out of high school. He was basically a 4-star recruit who had to send tapes around the country to garner much interest from college recruiters. He could have gone to many places but landed at Michigan, where he wasn’t even the highest ranked QB in his Michigan draft class (Drew Henson.)

He split time with Henson there and was eventually a 6th round dart throw of a pick by the New England Patriots. He wasn’t supposed to be more than depth behind established Drew Bledsoe. The Patriots had (and still have) a philosophy to draft QBs, develop them and trade them off for something of more value later. Brady was just another cog in that machine.
Until he got his chance.

I’ll spare you the accolades, but it’s fair to say, regardless of personal opinion, Brady’s accomplishments ranks him as one of the top QBs in the history of the NFL . And ‘one of the top’ leaves lots of room to insert anyone you like, but I can argue with no difficulty, that he’s the greatest ever. But, if you like someone else, knock yourself out.

Enough of a history lesson.

My point to all that? He isn’t an overly talented athlete. Heck, most in high school thought he’d be playing in the World Series, not Super Bowls. Colleges recruit talent. The NFL drafts talent.
Talent doesn’t measure effort, heart or discipline.

Just as Bad Boy Bill Laimbeer from the Detroit Pistons and Bill Romanowski from a number of different teams showed, lack of talent can create a chip on your shoulder. A ‘watch me succeed because you didn’t think I would’ mentality is easy to love.  They were mean and nasty and played hard because that’s the only way they knew to succeed.

I admire that. Always have.

Heck, I was told by an ex-girlfriend’s mother I’d never amount to anything. Still stings. Not because I value her opinion, but because I don’t like be being underestimated.

When I see effort win, I admire it. Talent is supposed to succeed. But, any coach will tell you, give me effort over talent any day.

Couple this with the accomplishments he’s earned, largely when it counts the most, and I don’t apologize for like who I like.

But there’s a catch… and here’s where Emmitt Smith comes in.

I’m also a jaded sports fan.

I met Emmitt right after he was drafted at Sound Warehouse (yes, I’m old) in Irving. He wasn’t a very friendly fellow. Granted, I was just another kid star struck at running into him. But, hey, this was my experience. He blew me off.

Not a crime, but just kinda douchey.

But, of course, I always rooted for him and would take him over Barry Sanders or any other RB during his time b/c of his effort and toughness. He wasn’t the most talented guy, but he was the engine of the Cowboy dominance in the ‘90s because he had more heart than any player of his era.
Skip ahead to a few years after he retired and I start hearing stories from authors and writers about how difficult he was to deal with. They’re experience validated my own. He even wanted $10k for a 15 min interview for a book praising how dominant the Cowboys were in the ‘90s. If there’s one thing I despise, it’s a prima donna. (I know those hating Tom Brady would call him that, but I guess I just don’t see him as one… or I’d despise him too.)

I’ve always felt you are how you treat people. Your status or position is irrelevant to me and if you shove it in my face, I’m not going to respect you for it. And worse, I’m going to despise you. As people, no one is better than another.

So, the more and more I read about how Emmitt treated people, the more disappointed I became that my favorite Cowboy was basically a douchebag. He was beloved by fans, but only for what he did on the field. And most fans equated his on-field success with personal character. I experienced different and read more and more about how my experience really seemed to be who the guy is… not what he portrayed himself to be.

That whole process jaded me. I stopped caring (generally) what a person does in their off-field life. I enjoyed watching their accomplishments and ability. I created a clean separation of the two. Because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t enjoy following sports anymore.

Now, that’s not an absolute. Some players cross over, good and bad to me. I’ll even admit to some hypocrisy and inconsistency. There are always exceptions to the rule.

Enter Barry Bonds.

By every account, he’s a jerk. A talented, better-than-you-and-he-knows-it jerk who was known to seclude himself from his teammates, berate the media, fans when confronted and was the poster boy for steroids (even though it was during a time it wasn’t illegal.)

Thank goodness I’m not a girl. I think I’d be a sucker for the bad boy.

But, Barry is the exception to my rule. I’ve got no defense.

Back to Tom Brady... (don’t roll your eyes)

Don’t confuse admiration for his accomplishments for admiration for HIM. I’ll argue and defend him on certain things but certainly can’t on others. But, just like I don’t want to hear Hollywood stars spout off to me about their political agenda, I don’t want more from my athlete than a good performance. Dance, monkey, dance.

The other stuff? I’ve tuned it out unless it’s so egregious, I can’t. Good people make mistakes. Bad people treat others poorly. That’s ultimately my litmus test. It’s not a mistake to treat people poorly. It’s a character flaw. Does Brady treat people poorly? I have no idea. I do know that I am pretty in-tune with the sports world and I’ve not heard anything to suggest he does. Maybe he hides it well. Good for him if so.

Now, everyone’s favorite QB Peyton Manning? I’ve HEARD first-hand him big-time people on the radio when he didn’t think he was on air. His condescension showed me he’s a character and brand he protects. He tried to ruin a trainer’s career in college because she accused him of sexual assault. (Details are a bit lame, as he basically tea-bagged her as a joke.) His daddy jumped in on the attack. That story never really went anywhere and I honestly don’t know how much credence I even give it. But, I do know it’s out there.

My point in bringing Manning up is he and Brady will always be compared to each other because they faced off so much and were two of the greatest QBs in history. And generally… if you like one, you’re supposed to hate the other. I like Peyton. A lot. He’s the best field general ever at QB. But, I’m just not buying into a public persona. I buy into what I experience. Peyton lost me once I heard that radio interview. I do love his commercials though.

So this circles us back to now…
I appreciate greatness. I’ll sports-argue accomplishments all day long and if you want to shut down the argument because you think Brady is a cheater or a douche or whatever, that’s your right and another discussion as far as I’m concerned. Maybe he IS a bad guy. Maybe I’m fooled. Wouldn’t be the first time. But, that also doesn’t diminish his accomplishments.

But, because I have largely separated an athlete from who they are as a person, I see effort, heart, discipline, accomplishment and leadership.

I admire those things. I make no apologies for that.

I’ve learned the one bias stronger than liking someone is despising them.  So, those who despise Brady never will come around. Doesn’t bother me any. But to criticize my admiration is just ignorance why I do in the first place.

He’s just the best QB of all time and I recognize it.