Buccaneers' Tom Brady: Up to young players to replicate his successes

Tampa Bay Buccaneers starting quarterback Tom Brady first entered the NFL via the 2000 draft, won his seventh career Super Bowl title this past February, turned 44 years old on Aug. 3 and may or may not be considering playing another six seasons. 

Per Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio and Kevin Lewis of Tampa's WFTS-TV, Brady had a humorous and then honest response when asked what advice he'd give younger would-be stars about matching his accomplishments and remaining in the league for two decades. 

"Good luck," Brady said, before adding: 

"It’s tough, but it’s up to them. Yeah, if you do the right stuff, you have a shot. But I see a lot of people not do the right stuff. I try to influence the people I can. First of all, you have to love it. If you want to do it for a long period of time, you have to really excel at it and that really comes from loving it. It’s a lot of different motivations over long periods of time. Lots of little things at different moments — some is more motivation, some is more inspiration, but there are a lot of different things that play into it." 

Brady's strict diet has become a thing of legend and was reportedly embraced by Green Bay Packers quarterback and reigning NFL Most Valuable Player Aaron Rodgers during the offseason. "The TB12 Method" that includes completing pliability exercises may not work for every signal-caller who hasn't yet reached his 25th birthday, but it's allowed Brady to at least claim he could see himself turning 50 as an active player.