Tom Brady is a California kid, but he also shares a connection to the great state of Minnesota, where his New England Patriots will travel for Super Bowl LII.
The 40-year-old quarterback spent plenty of time in the Land of 10,000 Lakes during his formative years, milking cows and ice fishing with his grandfather, a dairy farmer.
“My mom grew up … in central Minnesota in a small town called Browerville,” Brady said Monday on WEEI’s “Kirk & Callahan.” “My grandparents lived there, and my grandma died of multiple sclerosis quite a few years ago. I was in the nursing home, and my grandpa was a farmer. He was a dairy farmer. He had a lot of cows, and he farmed corn. Every year, we would go back in the summer and spend weeks. We’d go fishing in the summer and ice fishing in the winter. I milked the cows with my grandpa and just kind of tended the farm. It was a great experience for me born in California, but I have always felt a connection to Minnesota.”
The Patriots defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-20 on Sunday to clinch their third AFC championship in four years. They’ll take on the Philadelphia Eagles in two weeks at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
“It will be fun because my uncles still live there, my cousins,” Brady said. “We were just back there last year when my grandpa passed away. It’s a great place. It’s really special to go back there. The last time we played Minnesota I had a lot of people come — a lot of family and extended family. There will be a lot of great support there in Minnesota, too.”