TAMPA, Fla. — Once upon a time, he was too skinny and slow. His arm lacked strength and his passes lacked beauty.
Seven Super Bowl rings later, the Tom Brady scouting report has evolved.
Today, he is too immobile and too worried about the pass rush. He’s got too many off-field distractions and too little commitment to his current team.
Yes, even the most successful quarterback in NFL history has his critics and haters. For all the riches and acclaim he has accumulated — and few athletes have ever had more — he seems weirdly attuned to those who doubt him. He says he doesn’t pay attention, but the evidence suggests otherwise.
He tweets. He jabs. He draws outsized attention to those with unkind reviews. It’s always after the fact and usually with a smile, but there is also an edge to his retorts.
So, Tom Brady is heading for a fall, you say
Not today, he replies.
This is good news for Bucs fans, this fascination with slapping back at critics. Obviously, it isn’t the reason he is still playing at age 45, but it’s not inconsequential either.
SportsHandle.com recently analyzed more than 8.5 million tweets involving the NFL in the past year and determined Brady has more negative mentions (more than 200,000) than any other player.
Brady either doesn’t see or purposefully ignores 99.99% of those tweets, but he also deliberately highlights those criticisms or predictions that have not aged gracefully.
Is that necessary or constructive for an athlete who has awards, championships and a guaranteed Hall of Fame bust in his future? Probably not. But does it speak to the competitiveness that has transformed Brady from a middling prospect into an NFL legend? You bet it does.
“Is not what you’re looking for in terms of physical stature, strength, arm strength and mobility …” his scouting report read in Pro Football Weekly’s draft preview in 2000.
His career has been one long procession of outperforming expectations. From the video clips his father sent to dozens of colleges just to get a scholarship offer, to falling to the 199th pick of the NFL draft, to the evaluation done by his first Patriots quarterbacks coach that said everything Brady did was too slow.
He went from a spot on the bench to Super Bowl MVP in barely four months, but was never bereft of perceived slights and challenges in the seasons ahead.
It comes with the territory, of course. And, by no means, is Brady the only player to face criticism or run into adversity.
But he also had an uncanny ability to succeed in moments when it appeared the football gods were conspiring against him.
Consider the circumstances Brady was facing throughout the 2016 season. His mother was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in the summer, he was suspended by Commissioner Roger Goodell for the season’s first four games due to Deflategate and, when the Patriots reached the Super Bowl, they were humiliated by the Falcons in the first half and trailed 28-3 by the third quarter.
Yet, by the end of the night, it was Brady on the podium accepting the MVP award from Goodell.
Asked his thoughts about Brady prior to a playoff game in 2010, Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie was pointed and succinct. “An a------,” he said. “F--- him.”
Brady once said he had a chip on his shoulder and deep scars that never healed. This was not a moment of self-pity, but rather of self-reflection. If he was the guy no one expected to excel, then he was going to outwork everyone else and prove them wrong.
Is it possible, a quarter-century later, that Brady is still provoked by the unflattering opinions of others? When you have won more than anyone else, is it necessary to look beyond your heart for motivation?
Brady often sidesteps questions about finding inspiration in the critiques of others, but then he has also acknowledged that many of his responses to media queries are less-than-forthright. And, in recent years, he has not been shy about circling back to skewer those who mistakenly pondered his demise.
Maybe it’s good-natured. Maybe it’s just a lark.
Or maybe it’s the antidote to all the accolades, comforts and paychecks that can rob an athlete of the hunger of youth.
“There is no doubt that Brady can thrive on the field this year. The question is whether he will stay motivated and avoid distractions,” the Boston Globe wrote last month.
When he takes the field against the Cowboys on Sept. 11, Brady will surpass Steve DeBerg as the oldest starting quarterback in NFL history. He will be six months away from his brief retirement, and just a few weeks removed from an unexplained, and unprecedented, 11-day break in the middle of training camp.
Do you doubt the 2022 version of Tom Brady can lead the Bucs back to the Super Bowl?
As it turns out, a little doubt might not be the worst thing in the world.
