Tom Brady’s longevity in the NFL is as remarkable as his brilliant career, but it also came with the burden of major and minor injuries over two decades. Even though The GOAT played until the age of 45, he suffered a setback following the end of the 2006 campaign when he was only 29.
Brady was a recent guest of The Overlap podcast, hosted by soccer legends Gary Neville and Roy Keane. During their candid conversation, the iconic quarterback recalled dealing with a sports hernia during the offseason of 2007.
“After the season (2006), I tell the doctor, my groin’s just really sore all the time. Every time I move, I can feel it just grab, and the team doctor says, ‘This is what we’re going to do. We’re going to do an adductor release; we’re going in there and cutting the adductor tendon in your groin. We’re also going to cut the other side, so it never becomes a problem.’”said Brady.
“And I was like, Okay, that sounds not like what I want to do. I called Alex (medicine practitioner and body coach Alex Guerrero) when I left the office. I said, Alex, the doctor told me to do this adductor release. What do you think? He said, ‘Absolutely not. Fly out to LA with me for 3 days, and I’ll fix it.'”
“So I fly out there and worked the adductors, lengthened and softened both muscles, my hips, all my glutes, basically relieved the tension on the tendon,” the Patriots legend added. “And 3 days later, no more pain. The doctor said there was a 99% chance he’d have to cut my adductor tendon at some point. And to this day, nothing.”
Tom Brady’s Post-2006 Career Proved That the Unconventional Recovery Worked
Tom Brady‘s decision not to go for the surgery proved to be a masterstroke, and his career afterward showed why it was the right decision to opt for the quick 3-day procedure. With the groin tendons bothering him, he was not at his usual best in 2006, logging 3,529 passing yards.
Getty Tom Brady
However, the following year, he won the NFL MVP and NFL Offensive Player of the Year simultaneously, proving it to be one of the most successful seasons of his storied career. He managed 4,806 passing yards and 50 touchdowns. Even though he did not lift the Lombardi Trophy that season, he took the Patriots to Super Bowl XLII.
Besides Brady, Alex Guerrero had worked with other Patriots players, especially after the miraculous recovery of the signal-caller without going under the knife.
The Similar Method Helped the Careers of Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman
After dealing with several injuries throughout his career, the former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski sought Alex Guerrero’s help, ignoring the traditional approaches of the team’s official medical staff. He adopted the TB12 Method in 2017, which helped him on the gridiron.
GettyJulia Edelman and Rob Gronkowski
Similarly, the former wide receiver, Julian Edelman, followed the same TB12 strategy after his ACL tear in 2017. Later, he stormed back into the field in a remarkable fashion, winning Super Bowl LIII and the MVP award in 2019. After his career-defining season, he became one of the advocates of the TB12 pliability method.
Tom Brady Recalls How He Refused Major Surgery and Still Played Until 45