Tom Brady takes shots at ‘cranky old coach’ Bill Belichick
Tom Brady took a cheeky dig at Bill Belichick as he delivered a commencement speech at Georgetown University.
Legendary quarterback Brady, who won six of his seven Super Bowl rings alongside Coach Belichick during their historic 19-year run with the New England Patriots, addressed McDonough School of Business graduates on Saturday.
He urged them to take risks and work with people who push them hard, drawing on his own experience in New England to drive home his point.
Tom Brady pokes fun at Bill Belichick during motivational speech
As he stepped on stage to applause, Brady began: “I usually don’t do well with compliments… I had a coach for 20 years tell me how s*** I was every day.”
The NFL icon-turned-broadcaster continued with a number of playful jabs, noting that it was a ‘privilege’ to be with the graduates and their loved ones, even those ‘who are Jets fans.’
Brady then took an opportunity to draw some parallels between his own career, and what lies ahead for the business class — even if they won’t be yelled at by Belichick for a living.
“I want you to challenge yourself with ideas that are uncomfortable, and people who push you to be your very best,” he said.
“Even if one of those people is a cranky old coach who cuts the sleeves off his sweatshirt and screams at you all day, ‘Do your job!’
“Okay, that’s too specific in my experience, but you guys get the point.”
After detailing the mentality behind the Patriots unforgettable Super Bowl LI comeback from 28-3 down against the Atlanta Falcons, Doctor Brady wrapped up by urging graduates to ‘test their greatness’ and suggested that winners don’t quit.
“The tests are over in school — thank God. But the tests in life, they never end,” he said.
“You will be tested every day. And those tests are the prep for the life that you want to live. My story can become your story, but yours will be unique, written by you.”
“Remember this, testing your greatness always comes in the form of a contest, where preparation meets opportunity.
“And the winner is the one who just won’t quit.”
Bill Belichick pushed Tom Brady to limit in search of NFL greatness
Brady, now a co-owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, has been vocal in the past about Belichick’s tough coaching methods.
The pair simply wouldn’t have won six rings together if the Pats quarterback was getting an easy ride every day in practice.
“He’s the best coach to ever coach in the NFL,” Brady said of Belichick, during an appearance on the Barstool Sports Spittin’ Chiclets
podcast back in January.
“He’s one of the greatest motivators. There are so many things that are just uncanny about his coaching style, that he had such high expectations for us, and he never let up off the gas.
“It didn’t matter if it was March. March was really important because March led to April, and April was really important because it led to May, and so forth.
“All the way up to the start of the season, all the way up to the final games of the season to prepare us for the playoffs. And then if we were fortunate enough to make it to the last game, we were so prepared because every day was important.
“There was never a day where you could go in there and under perform on a practice and him not call you out, and that’s hard.
“It’s hard to live up to that standard every day, but when you look back, we all appreciate the coaches who got the best out of us.”
While most of us will go through life without a sleeveless sweatshirt-wearing coach yelling at us day-to-day, Brady’s message to Georgetown graduates is worth remembering.
If you challenge yourself with uncomfortable ideas, and surround yourself with people who push you to be your best, you’ll be just fine.
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