Lots of people look at Tom Brady as a college player or in pictures or video from the NFL Combine (see below), and they laugh at the scrawny guy who looks like an un-athletic tenth grader running through agility drills. The thing that people often forget is that when he played quarterback for Michigan and when he was going through QB-specific drills, he actually looked pretty darn good. It was only when asked to run around cones and run 40 yards in a straight line when he looked particularly awkward. It just goes to show that you don't have to be a great all-around athlete to be a professional athlete. I don't want to watch C.C. Sabathia run the 40-yard dash or see B.J. Raji throw a curveball, but they're both good at what they do.
After watching that clip I would say his performance in the Combine contributed to his drop in the draft (lucky for NE). I really didn't see anything I liked whatsoever. I know he never had and never will have the strongest arm, but some of his passes look extremely weak, hardly making it to the attended target. His footwork I guess was the best part, decent, but not noteworthy. Of course the worst part was his speed, or rather lack there of. Good thing he has the 'intangibles' which make him arguably the best QB ever to play in the NFL.
ReplyDeleteI have a son that was so slow on a soccer field that it confused people. I saw it time and time again. He'd get the ball on his foot and start attacking. The opposing defender thinking that he was getting set up because nobody playing at this level could possibly be this slow just gives up ground in order to buy some cushion for the acceleration that never came, because it just wasn't there.
ReplyDeleteI see people bite on Tom Brady's goofy fakes as he runs by them and think it's about the same thing.
LOL. So. I sent this post over to my buddy who has a serious to the point of sick man crush on Tom Brady. He comes back with, "Yeah, he's slower than hell with his feet, but he thinks faster than the rest of them can run."
ReplyDeleteTrue enough.