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Thomas Brady Sr. is the father of the much-more famous Thomas Brady Jr., better known as Tom Brady, the five-time Super Bowl champion quarterback for the New England Patriots. The elder Brady is famous for speaking his mind about the NFL and his son.
Brady Sr. gets to say that he is the only father of a quarterback with five Super Bowl championship rings.
The 72-year-old and his wife, Galynn Patricia Brady, have been married since April 1969 and have four children. Tom is the youngest and their only son. His daughters are Julie, Maureen and Nancy.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. He’s the Founder & CEO of the Independent Insurance Firm Thomas Brady & Associates
Brady is the CEO and founder of Thomas Brady and Associates, an independent insurance firm. He founded the company over 45 years ago in San Francisco. In 2007, he opened an office in Boston and later opened another one in New York City.
He has a B.S. in sociology from the University of San Francisco. In 1968, he started his career at New England Life, where he worked for eight years before setting up his own firm.
“His goal was to help families with their planning and insurance needs by delivering the same level of commitment that he provided to his own family. Today, while the firm has grown to service both individual and corporate clients, that same mission of trust and commitment remains,” his company bio reads, in part.
2. He Described His Son as a ‘Pretty Slow White Guy’ in High School
Tom Brady is not known for being a speedy quarterback. In fact, since he first played in a game in 2001, Brady has only 940 total rushing yards. In 2016, he only had to rush for 64 yards.
That said, it’s not surprising that Brady told the NFL Network in 2015 that his son was not a fast runner in high school.
“When he was in high school, he was a pretty slow white guy,” Brady Sr. said in 2015. “And he said ‘I’m gonna go play college football.’ Well, we would never dissuade him from that, we would always be supportive, because someone else might take his dream away, but his parents and his sisters will never take it away.”
Also in that interview, Brady said he was really disappointed when his son decided to go to Michigan instead of a school in California.
“When he ultimately decided to go to Michigan…it broke my heart; it killed me,” Brady said in 2015. “I wanted him to go to Cal-Berkeley, 35 miles away. I went to a psychologist for two months to get over the fact that I had separation from my son, who’s one of my best friends in the whole world.”
3. He Slammed Roger Goodell After ‘Deflategate’
While Tom has carefully chosen his words about Deflategate, his father doesn’t hit his opinion. He told KRON4 that he doesn’t think NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell deserves to be on the same stage as his son.
“It should be an honor because somebody that has Roger Goodell’s ethics doesn’t belong on any stage that Tom Brady is on,” Brady told KRON4, referencing Goodell’s statement that it would be an “honor” to give Brady the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Brady also told KRON4 that it was really difficult to watch his son be at the center of a controversy that seemed to never end.
“When it happens to your son, it’s a whole different context,” Brady told the station. “Or your daughter or any one of your kids and I think any parent kind of understands that. They’d rather take the slings and arrows in the heart than have their kids take it. For what the league did to him (Tom Brady) and what Roger Goodell constantly lied about is beyond reprehensible as far as I’m concerned.”
After his father’s constant comments about Goodell, Tom has “banned” his father from talking to the media.
“I love my Dad. As any parent knows how much you love your kids. My Dad has been my best friend my entire life. He’s always been my No. 1 supporter. Hopefully he’s at the game cheering me on. He’s great man and I love him to death. He’s taught me everything about life. Certainly about how to be a father because he’s been the best one a son could ever ask for. I try to pass those things on to my kids because he was so supportive of not only me but my three sisters were all great athletes in their own right. My mom, they’re still married after close to 46 years. I’ve been very, very fortunate,” Brady told WEEI.
4. He Said He Never Advocated for His Son & Never Tried to Advise His Coaches
In a 2012 interview with MomsTEAM, Brady Sr. surprisingly said that he never really tried to be an advocate for his son. Instead, he just provided Tom with encouragement. He wasn’t a parent who tried to meddle in his child’s playing career by talking to coaches.
“I never spoke to the coaches when something was bothering him. They would never have taken my advice, so why even bother,” Brady told momsTEAM. “They had their own plans, and I was not going to change them, so I let it go. Instead, I provided encouragement. Lots of encouragement.”
Brady said he didn’t even go with his son to recruiting visits. He might have said later that he wasn’t happy with Brady choosing a school so far from California, but he didn’t stop his son.
5. His Wife Was Diagnosed With Breast Cancer & He Could Only Go to 1 Game in 2016
The Brady family is very close and usually support Tom by attending his games. However, Brady only went to one game in 2016 and Galynn missed every game. A source close to the family told CSN NE that Galynn has been fighting an undisclosed illness for 18 months. She is doing better recently, but the Brady family is concerned.
During Super Bowl LI media day, Brady told the media that his father is his hero. He didn’t give details about his mother, but he acknowledged that 2016 was a difficult year for the family.
“It’s been a challenging year for my family, just for some personal reasons,” Brady said in Houston. “It’ll just be nice having everyone here watching us this weekend. That’s my mom and dad. They’ve been so supportive my entire life, it’s nice to be able to show them . . . to try to make them proud . . . My mom hasn’t been to a game this season. My dad has been to [only] one. It’s very atypical.”
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