Getty Tom Brady looks on during the Buccaneers' season opener on Thursday.
When Tom Brady met power broker and golf enthusiast Jimmy Dunne, it led to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback gaining a new perspective on life because of Dunne’s experience with 9/11.
So much so that Brady tweeted out encouragement to read Sports Illustrated’s story of Dunne’s 9/11 survival and its impact on the longtime NFL star. “Worth reading. Love will always conquer hate,” Brady wrote.
The reminder that Brady embraced from Dunne’s story was the phrase “it’s just like we like it” according to Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim. Brady calls it “a really great model for life” per Wertheim, who noted Dunne expands his phrase’s meaning as “there is going to be a randomness in everything we do … accept what you can’t control; you accept and you try to embrace it.”
Dunne, who worked for Sandler O’Neill in the World Trade Center at the time, golfed the morning of September 11 at the recommendation of a friend and co-worker per Wertheim. Chris Quackenbush, who made the seemingly random recommendation, died along with others at the investment bank when Flight 175 struck the south tower of the World Trade Center, Wertheim wrote.
Wertheim went on to recount how Dunne worked to rebuild Sandler O’Neill and aid the families of former colleagues who died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Brady, who didn’t meet Dunne until years later per Wertheim, was a backup quarterback for the New England Patriots at the time.
The NFL postponed its games the following weekend per NFL.com. The events of 9/11 touched NFL players as personally as anyone else. Notably, Brady’s former teammate, Joe Andruzzi, had three brothers working as New York City firefighters at the time per NFL.com.
Almost two weeks after 9/11, Brady became the Patriots’ starter after Drew Bledsoe went down to injury. Brady then led the Patriots to Super Bowl XXXVI, which heavily commemorated the nation’s journey forward from 9/11.
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Dunne’s Influence of Brady
To this day, Brady highly regards Dunne’s response to the tragedy of 9/11, Wertheim wrote.
“The way Jimmy confronted the challenges and dealt with the way only Jimmy could? That’s what endears Jimmy to everyone,” Brady said per Wertheim. “You don’t do amazing things by taking three knees and punting, hoping someone else makes a decision for you.”
Brady certainly doesn’t live or play that way amid winning seven Super Bowls in 21 years. He did more of the same on Thursday in the season opening against Dallas, 31-29, taking a risk at the end of the first half and then leading a drive to set up a game-winning field goal.
On Saturday, Brady posted an Instagram story, remembering 9/11 from the lives lost to honoring first responders.
Bucs Remember 9/11
Brady was far from the only member of the Bucs to remember 9/11 on social media on Saturday.
Head coach Bruce Arians tweeted a photo of firefighters from 9/11 with the message “20 years later and we still #NeverForget.”
20 years later and we still #NeverForget
Tight end Rob Gronkowski wrote “remembering those lost and the courage of our first responders” and retweeted actor Mark Wahlberg’s remembrance of 9/11.
Wide receiver Scotty Miller retweeted the Bucs’ remembrance of 9/11. “Today and always, we remember 9/11,” the Bucs social media team wrote.