Bill Belichick Gives His Take On Reason For Tom Brady’s Longevity

FOXBORO, Mass. — New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady not only is still playing at 40 years old, he’s actually performing at a higher level than he was in his 20s.

Brady leads the NFL with 3,642 yards and a 109.7 passer rating through 12 games this season. Brady never had a passer rating higher than 92.6 in his 20s, and he topped out at 4,110 yards through 16 games.

So why is Brady still able to perform at such a high level when other similarly aged quarterbacks are retired? Head coach Bill Belichick gave his take Wednesday in a conference call with the Miami Dolphins media.

“Yeah, well, Tom works hard and I think Tom’s talked a lot about that and discussed his personal training methods and so forth,” Belichick said. “So, I mean, he’s probably a better person to comment on that than I am, but Tom works hard, he’s here every day and puts an awful lot into his preparation, both physically and mentally for the game. So, I think that has a lot to do with it.”

Brady is in the odds-on favorite to win NFL MVP this season, edging Carson Wentz, Russell Wilson and Drew Brees.