Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of all-time and that is evident from the 7 Super Bowl rings he now owns. But, just as in most sports, this is a team game and without some great teammates along the way, Brady may not have even sniffed the greatness he has reached.
Over a 23-year span one can accrue a ton of teammates and from what others have said around the league and those who are closest with Brady is that he has always been a consummate teammate in the locker room despite being the biggest name in all of football.
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I've always wondered what football celebrities were like when not in the open for everyone to see and we got a chance to peek inside what it is like to be one of Brady's teammates in the locker room as former Brady teammate on the Buccaneers, Kyle Rudolph sat down for an interview with NBC's Peter King.
“Tom had an empty locker next to him. I would look over there and every day, guys would put helmets, jerseys, pictures, footballs, all the stuff they wanted Tom to sign for them. There’d be notes on the stuff, a post-it note on a football—‘Sign this for Jimmy, it’s his birthday.’ At the end of the day, almost every day, he’d sit there and sign everything.”
Rudolph continued his comments by acknowledging the respect that he has for Brady's character, highlighting his respect for everyone in the organization from top to bottom.
“My experience with Tom was incredible. First, the way he treated people. The way he treated the Glazer family [Bucs owners] is exactly the way he treated the janitor at 6:30 at night when he and maybe one or two other guys were the last players in the building.”
Last season, Brady was not only dealing with things that had to do with football, but he was also going through a divorce from his now ex-wife Gisele Bundchen compiling off-field distractions with on-field performance. This led Rudolph to commend Brady on his resolve and positive attitude within the team.
“If anyone had the right to sometimes be an a—hole, it was Tom. He never was. Think of how tough a year it was for him off the field. The most amazing thing to me was, with all the negativity swirling around his life outside of football, he never carried it into the building. Always positive.”
“I didn’t think it’d be possible when I walked into the team to be more impressed with Tom. But I was.”
The reverberation of Brady being a consummate teammate will remain. He is a proven winner and you don't just get there by chance or by being someone who isn't valued in the locker room. Brady was able to combine all his great characteristic traits to get the most out of those around him and it shows through his career accomplishments.
Last season was the last season for both Brady and Rudolph as both players retired following the 2022 season. And to make it all the more memorable, Brady's last touchdown pass ever in the NFL ended up going to Kyle Rudolph. Poetic.
You can follow JC Allen on Twitter @JCAllenNFL.
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