Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady made an immediate request to Elon Musk, who purchased Twitter on Monday, April 25.
Brady jokingly reminded Musk to delete his 2000 NFL Combine photo. In 2000, Brady didn’t look like a seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback who had a highly-regimented diet and workout routine.
“Sooo……,” Brady wrote in follow up to his initial request, “if you buy Twitter, can you delete the combine photo?”
Tom Brady just wants his combine photo deleted 😂
(via @TomBrady)
Brady’s NFL Combine appearance and performance in 2000 didn’t hint at his future greatness. He stood at 6-foot-4 and weighed 211 pounds. His combine numbers included a 24 1/2-inch vertical jump and a 5.24 40-yard dash. His dash time remains historically low — the second slowest — among combine quarterback prospects according to Sporting News.
Even the New England Patriots, which drafted Brady in the sixth round, didn’t have an overly glowing report of him on the team website in 2000. Nonetheless, the Patriots took the former Michigan star at pick No. 199 in the draft. Brady drastically improved and led the Patriots to six Super Bowl wins before joining the Bucs in 2020. Brady, 44, led the Bucs to a Super Bowl LV win, and he seeks another in 2022.
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Brady’s Pre-Draft Scouting Report High and Lows
The Patriots pre-draft report mentioned concerns on Brady’s athleticism.
“Poor build. Very skinny and narrow,” the Patriots website stated. “Ended the ’99 season weighing 195 pounds and still looks like a rail at 211. Looks a little frail and lacks great physical stature and strength. Can get pushed down more easily than you’d like. Lacks mobility and ability to avoid the rush. Lacks a really strong arm. Can’t drive the ball down the field and does not throw a really tight spiral. System-type player who can get exposed if he must ad-lib and do things on his own.”
Tom Brady was just trying to impress scouts at the 2000 Combine.
Now he has six rings. 💍💍💍💍💍💍
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. likewise highlighted Brady’s “lack of mobility” as a concern. Kiper also questioned Brady’s ability to “take more chances down the field.”
Brady impressed, too, with a successful college career at Michigan. He threw for 4,772 yards and 30 touchdowns in 29 game appearances from 1996 to 1998. That included an Orange Bowl win and a Big Ten title.
“Good height to see the field,” the Patriots website stated. “Very poised and composed. Smart and alert. Can read coverages. Good accuracy and touch. Produces in big spots and in big games. Has some Brian Griese in him and is a gamer. Generally plays within himself. Team leader.”
Kiper likewise saw positives in Brady’s game.
“He’s a straight drop back passer who stands tall in the pocket, doesn’t show nervous feet, and does a nice job working through his progressions,” Kiper wrote. “He’s not going to try to force the action, rarely trying to perform beyond his capability.”
Brady Motivated by Doubters
Positives aside, Brady has made a 22-year career of proving doubters wrong with seven Super Bowl titles, three MVPs, and droves of quarterback records. He has long used his scouting report as motivation, which resurfaced in 2021 when eventual Patriots quarterback Mac Jones got compared to Brady before the draft.
“Still gets me fired up,” Brady wrote.
“Wow,” Brady said in the video. “That kind of gets me fired up. Because I’m thinking, you know, what the hell do these people know? That sounds like Joe Montana right there.”
“When people tell you, ‘hey, you can’t do this, you can’t do this, and you keep overcoming that, you build this confidence in yourself and this belief in yourself that even when nobody else believes in you that I’m still going to do it because I don’t give an [expletive] what you say because I know what I can do, and I’ve done it,” Brady added.
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Bucs’ Tom Brady Trolls Elon Musk in Viral Message