Tom Brady won again and is heading to yet another Super Bowl after defeating the Steelers 36-17 Sunday night. But what drives a man to lead a team to six super bowls and win four of them? What is behind the guy that has won three Super Bowl MVPS and two League MVPs? To know what makes this champion tick, it’s best to look at where he’s come from, who he is, and how his consistency drives him to be the ultimate quarterback. Here is a glimpse of the story of the 39-year-old Tom Brady who is leading the Patriots to yet another Super Bowl appearance.
Tom Brady was born on August 3, 1977, in San Mateo, California. He was drafted by the NFL’s New England Patriots in 2000 by Bill Belichick. He passed up an opportunity to play professional baseball after graduating high school to instead play football for the University of Michigan, which was Brady’s greater passion. Choosing football instead of baseball at that point in his life became instrumental in determining the trajectory of the rest of his professional career as an American athlete.
Tom Brady entered the 2000 NFL draft where he was selected in the sixth round out of seven and 199 th overall by Bill Belichick. Six of those players selected before Tom in this draft were also quarterbacks, yet have been forgotten for the most part. In fact, a documentary was made about these six quarterbacks chosen. Also, out of the 198 other players chosen before Tom, only two are still playing – a kicker and a punter. Tom Brady was likely the best steal of all in any draft. Looking back, no one would have suspected that Tom would have become the ultimate Super Bowl champion.
Did this disrespect from the draft partially drive him to have his success as a Super Bowl champion? Perhaps, but regardless Tom Brady may be considered one of the best, if not the best, quarterback who has ever played in the National Football League. He has been completely focused this postseason, as demonstrated by his appearance at another Super Bowl yet again.
However, this discipline extends far beyond the football field. Tom Brady’s personal chef was interviewed by Boston.com’s Hilary Sargent and gave insight into his strict diet. Tom’s chef, Allen Campbell is quoted saying,
“No white sugar. No white flour. No MSG. I’ll use raw olive oil, but I never cook with olive oil. I only cook with coconut oil. Fats like canola oil turn into trans fats…. I use Himalayan pink salt as the sodium. I never use iodized salt.
[Tom] doesn’t eat nightshades, because they’re not anti-inflammatory. So no tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, or eggplants. Tomatoes trickle in every now and then, but just maybe once a month. I’m very cautious about tomatoes. They cause inflammation.
What else? No coffee. No caffeine. No fungus. No dairy.
The kids eat fruit. Tom, not so much. He will eat bananas in a smoothie. But otherwise, he prefers not to eat fruits.”
When his chef says Tom never drinks coffee or caffeine, he is serious. Tom said in a recent interview that he has never had coffee in his life. There is no religious or moral reason; he simply says he has just never tried it.
Though his eating habits may be bizarre, no one can take away his Super Bowl victories from him. Brady is a champion by all measures of the word. If he wins the Super Bowl this year, he will have more championships under his name than anyone else in the history of the NFL.
[Featured image by Jim Rogash/Getty Images]
