Tom Brady is back.
The future Hall of Fame quarterback, who has won seven Super Bowls and three MVP Awards, is peeling back the curtain on why he decided to return to the game following a brief retirement that he announced earlier this year.
“I think personal conversations with people that support me and that really enabled me to go out there and play and do my job. Obviously, I don’t have a lot left,” he told Craig Melvin and Dylan Dreyer in an interview that aired Wednesday on the 3rd hour of TODAY.
“This is a game for young people. I just think competitively, I felt like I got to give it another chance.”
Brady, 44, is widely considered to be the greatest quarterback to ever play the game, and he’s accomplished just about everything any player could dream of. So, is there anything left for him to prove, or is he simply playing because he enjoys the sport?
“It’s mostly love of the game, for sure,” he said. “Football challenges you in every way. There’s a physical preparation. There’s a mental aspect to the game where you’re learning and figuring out how to get the best out of yourself and your teammates. And then I would say there’s an emotional part where how do I bring my best every day for my teammates? And how do they bring their best every day for me?”
At some point, Brady will hang up his cleats, and he already appears to have a plan for after retirement, having reportedly signed a 10-year, $375 million deal to work with Fox Sports.
“I know that I’m coming in as kind of a rookie to this, but I know I’m going to work extremely hard, like I always do,” he said. “I still think there’s a lot of things that I’ve learned over my professional career that will carry over to a different career.”
Brady is nearly as famous for his diet as he is for anything he’s done on a football field, but he says eating well has a been a key to his longevity and success.
“Part of why I think I feel strongly about health, nutrition is because it’s really allowed me to continue to do what I love to do. Had I not taken care of my body, you know, I would have been a very typical athlete that by the time you reach 30, you’re on a sharp decline,” he said.
“And I’m not super strict on my diet. I always try to make that really clear. Most people think I’m some crazy diet, you know? I think that’s just because that’s kind of low hanging fruit, so to speak, but I try to drink a lot of water.”
And Brady may seem superhuman on the field, but he’s like a lot of people when it comes to his cheat foods.
“I like cheeseburgers. I like ice cream. I like chocolate cake. I like what everyone else likes,” he said.
There’s also a rumor that he’s never eaten a strawberry, but Brady managed to put that to rest.
“My daughter made me eat one. She basically bosses me around, but, yes, I swallowed it. I don’t even think I took a chew,” he said.