James Harrison is an intimidating dude.
The New England Patriots briefly got to reap the benefits of that for four games at the end of their Super Bowl XLII run, and as a result, one of the linebacker’s misconceptions about Tom Brady was discovered.
On a recent episode of the “Pat McAfee Show,” Harrison shared stories of his short stint in New England. One of which has been heard many times by different accounts describing the seven-time Super Bowl champion.
“When I first got there, obviously, first person I met was Tom, and he just introduced yourself as if I didn’t know what the hell he was,” Harrison said. “But he does that with everybody. And he’s just a genuinely good person, you know?”
Harrison wasn’t easily won over by the now-Tampa Bay Buccaneer, though.
After the initial first impression as teammates on Day 1, Harrison continued to watch how Brady interacted with people in the organization when the doors are closed and the pageantry is over.
By Harrison’s word, Brady lived up to the hype.
“I wanted to hate him when I got there, so I’m like, ‘He’s feeding me some BS. He’s just being a good guy in front of me.’ So I’m sitting back watching him for like a week or two. And finally I have to tell him like, ‘Dude, I wanted to come here and hate you.’ … But I sat back and watched. That’s why everybody likes him, man. He’s a good dude. From the practice squad guy that comes in the first day, he’s like, ‘Hey, how you doing, I’m Tom Brady.’ Like they don’t know who the hell he is! That’s just him, that’s his personality, he’s just a good dude.”
The praise got back to Brady, who brought up a hilarious point about Harrison, who routinely posts Instagrams videos of his incredible weight lifting accomplishments. (Go down the rabbit hole of his feed, he’s worth the follow.)
“I mean…why would anyone ever not be nice to (Harrison),” Brady said Wednesday, quote-tweeting McAfee’s promotion of the show.
Great point. The argument speaks for itself. Especially after you see this:
