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NFL Legend Tom Brady Recalls Disappointing News From His Time at Michigan

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Angelo Guinhawa | Last updated Aug 19, 2025 8:26 PM ET

Before Tom Brady established himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, if not the best, he played for the Michigan Wolverines from 1995 to 1999. He redshirted in his first year before spending the next two seasons as a backup QB, with the Wolverines winning the national championship in the 1997 season.

By 1998, Brady's fourth year with the team, he had earned the starting quarterback job. However, according to the NFL icon, it "didn’t go as smoothly" as he would have liked.

Tom Brady Felt Nobody Wanted Him

The same year, the Wolverines were able to land QB Drew Henson, a highly-touted high school recruit. Naturally, he battled Brady for the starting job.

Even after Brady became the starter, though, he faced plenty of adversity. They lost their first two games in the 1998 season — a 36-20 loss to Notre Dame on the road and a 38-28 defeat to Syracuse at home.

The loss to Syracuse, in particular, stung for Brady because he was booed by the home fans, as he wrote in the latest release of his 199 newsletter.

"It felt like nobody wanted me there," he admitted.

Fortunately for Brady, Michigan won their next eight games after that and finished the campaign with a 10-3 record. According to the legendary signal-caller, he stayed true to Michigan's mantra, "Those who stay will be champions" — established by former coach Bo Schembechler.

Tom Brady Reflects on Disappointing News

That same mantra helped Brady in his fifth year when Coach Lloyd Carr decided to implement a platoon strategy.

As Brady explained, the strategy involved him starting in the first quarter and Henson playing in the second quarter, and "whoever had the hot hand would finish the game. Obviously, Brady was not happy with it.

"The news was disappointing, but there was nothing I could do about it, so I set about making the most of my opportunities," Brady added.

"Then, after a bad home loss to Illinois, Coach Carr dispensed with the platoon, I was named permanent starting QB and we won out from there, including a victory over Ohio State and a comeback overtime win against Alabama in the Orange Bowl."

Brady clarified in his newsletter that he's not complaining about his college career. Instead, he was simply emphasizing that facing those challenges in his career helped develop him into the iconic quarterback he became.

"Not being handed the starting job coming out of my redshirt year, and then everything involved with climbing up the depth chart and holding onto the job, forced me to find out what I was made of," he added.

"It forced me to develop the physical, mental and emotional skillset to endure, accept and respond to any challenge, wherever it comes from. As a result, I gained a ton of self-esteem, self-confidence, and resilience."

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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