Tom Brady made an instant impact in the NFL once he was given a chance and he never looked back.
No one saw it coming, including the "experts."
Brady, of course, was not highly touted coming out of college and waited until the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft to hear his name called. After backing up Drew Bledsoe for one season in New England, Brady took over the Patriots' starting quarterback job early in the 2001 season. Seven Super Bowl wins later, and Brady is poised to go down as the greatest signal-caller who has ever lived.
The star QB in an old interview with NFL Films' Steve Sabol was reminded of his poor pre-draft scouting report. It drew a stern reaction from Brady, who already had proved his doubters wrong by this point.
"Tom Brady: poor build, skinny, lacks great physical stature and strength and gets knocked down easily," Sabol said.
"That kinda gets me fired up 'cause I'm thinking, you know, what the hell do these people know?" Bradey replied. "That sounds like Joe Montana right there. When people tell you, 'Hey, you can't do this,' and you keep overcoming that, you build this confidence in yourself and belief in yourself that even when nobody else believes in you that I'm still gonna do it. Because I don't give a (expletive) what you say. I know what I can do and I've done it."
Fast forward well over a decade, and Brady still hasn't put the unflattering analysis behind him. The 43-year-old on Sunday quote tweeted a clip of the resurfaced interview, replying "Still gets me fired up..."
So despite the wealth of accolades that fill up his football résumé and having nothing left to prove, Brady all but surely will enter his 22nd season in the league with a chip on his shoulder.
