The latest issue of Sports Illustrated (featuring SI’s Sportsman of the Year Madison Bumgarner) goes into detail about Tom Brady’s training habits and how he wants to play well into his 40s.
However, another angle touched on was Brady’s competitiveness when pranking teammates.
Matt Cassel, Brady’s former backup in New England, fell to Brady’s hi-jinx on occasion and by hi-jinx I mean, going into Defcon 1 mode on his understudy when it came to grabbing revenge.
SI’s Greg Bishop described Brady’s antics:
He used to sit by the door to the quarterbacks’ meeting room and knock Cassel’s food out of his hands when he entered. The backup responded by filling Brady’s Nikes with a chocolate protein shake. Brady then had the tires taken off Cassel’s car, putting three of them in his locker and hiding the fourth — at which point Belichick put a stop to what he called World War III. But Cassel had learned two valuable lessons. The first: Brady can be one of the boys. The second: Don’t mess with guys who make more money than you.
Knocking food out of someone’s hand is just a high school maneuver but having someone remove all four of Cassel’s tires and place them in the locker room?
That’s a maniacal leader with enough disposable income to make most folks look foolish.
Categories: New England Patriots, Tom Brady