Tom Brady

I am fueling up the football tank this week. Watched highlights of XXXIX and XXXVI, got two more football specials taped to watch, one a highlight reel of the 2011 season, the other is soundbites from THE PATS 2011 season. Couldn't find anything on XXXVIII otherwise that would be in the tank as well.
Also going to re-watch The Brady 6.
As I watched XXXVI and that iconic image of Tom Brady with his hands on his head, shaking his head from side to side with an amazed grin on his face, I was blown away. That grin is not a cocky grin or a jaded grin, it is the genuine grin of a man who could not believe he had just won a Super Bowl and been elected MVP. Or maybe the satisfied grin of a man who always knew exactly who he was. That is why I love that image.
Brady was drafted 199th overall in the 2000 draft. Six quarterbacks were drafted before him. Chad Pennington, Giovanni Carmazzi, Chris Redman, Tee Martin, Marc Bulger, and Spergon Wynn. His scouting report reads in part "Poor build, very skinny and narrow, lacks mobility and the ability to avoid the rush, lacks a really strong arm."
There are other negatives in there as well.
Brady could not believe he was taken so far down in the draft. Because he believed in himself.
A quote from Aaron Shea, Brady's good friend and teammate at The University of Michigan. "We had apartments right above each other and I would hear him at six in the morning going to run the stadium stairs. He didn't tell anyone. I was probably the only one who knew that this guy was working out on his own, and then he'd come back and work out with the team."
Peoples' opinions mean nothing. Professionals who are paid to evaluate talent, supposed experts, don't know a goddamn thing about where a person is coming from, who they are inside, what they want and how hard they are willing to work for it. This cuts right across the board; professional sports, acting, singing, dancing, writing, painting.
It's there in real life too. Job interviews. Interviewers are often incompetent or playing out agendas or influenced by insignificant things like appearance. People's lives are greatly affected by the judgements of people who are often not qualified to evaluate them.
This is dangerous. And sad.
The beauty of Brady's story is that if you believe in yourself honestly and soul deep, and if you are willing to work your ass off, you can defy negative opinions. You can succeed. And then if you are so disposed, you can confront your detractors and ask "What do you think of me now, asshead?"
Sports present a unique atmosphere for this intensity of motivation because opportunity is short lived. Per Roger Goodell regarding NFL career length - "If a player makes the opening day roster, his average career is close to six years. If he is a first round draft choice, his average career is close to nine years." He used these stats to dispute the NFL Players Association claims that the numbers are much lower. In other words, these were positive stats in Goodell's mind.
Athletes are aware of these numbers, and I think if you believe and if you have the work ethic, these numbers are blazing motivation.
Life is different. Life grinds you down. You will work for forty five to fifty years. It is hard to remain motivated as you crawl down the road, looking for opportunity, for hope, for a chance to prove yourself.
Maybe you have a plan, maybe you don't. But we all want more money, we all need more money, especially in these unfair times when the whole world is out to stop you. To not believe in you. To rob you of opportunity. To rig the interview against you.
Us wee folk might get more shots than athletes over a lifetime at improving ourselves, but the rewards are much smaller at each step and the climb is slow and back breaking. And the setbacks are crushing.
I am drawn to shady characters. The guy with a little evil in him, somebody outside the norm. Because of this I have not given Tom Brady his due.
We should all have Tom Brady shrines in our houses. The Virgin Mary ain't done nothing for you yet. Toss her in the trash and erect a shrine to Number Twelve.
As you struggle for dignity and money, and try to duck the blows that come your way every day, get on your knees and pray to Tom Brady for some of his self confidence and some of his work ethic.
Tom Brady IS inspiration. And validation of the power of belief in your self over the weakness of those who would judge.