For a large portion of his post-playing career, Tom Brady has been thinking back on the lessons that helped him go from being a sixth-round pick to winning seven Super Bowls. Additionally, he focused on mental toughness, which he claims is crucial to excellence, in the most recent edition of his 199 newsletter.
Long before quarterback made his Patriots debut, Brady’s fifth year at Michigan was one of the first real tests of his mental toughness. He was the starting quarterback by then, having battled his way up the depth chart from being the QB7.
10/25/15: Foxborough, MA: With only three days off betwen games, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (rear) and head coach Bill Belichick (front) will have very little time to get ready for Thursday night’s game vs the Dolphins. They are pictured on the sidelines during Sunday’s game vs. the Jets. The New England Patriots hosted the New York Jets in a regular season NFL football game at Gillette Stadium. (Globe Staff Photo/Jim Davis) section:sports topic:Patriots-Jets (1)
In a startling twist, however, Brady was informed that he would be platooning with highly sought-after recruit Drew Henson after he was named the starting quarterback. In a match against unranked Syracuse in September 1999, this truth struck hard.
Tom Brady speaks about his benching
Brady was benched for the second half of the game after starting it. TB12 then watched in despair as Henson and the defense led the Wolverines to a pivotal 18–13 victory. In retrospect, he acknowledged that he had been overcome by strong feelings at the time.
Brady said: “I was disappointed, frustrated, embarrassed… I could have been angry, and if it were a few years earlier, I might have even gotten down on myself about it,”
“Don’t focus on what others are getting; focus on the opportunities you have, on the things you can control.”
“I got up on a table and sang the fight song louder than I ever had before,”
“I wanted to be the loudest one in the room, to show my teammates that I was just as excited about the win as they were… That one bad quarter, one tough decision, one rough turn of events wasn’t going to break me.”
However, rather than pouting, the greatest of all time relied on the advice of Greg Harden, a famous counselor from Michigan who worked with numerous Wolverines athletes.
