Tom Brady on growing up with three older sisters: "I was their punk brat little brother"
Tom Brady opened up on all the influences who have helped support his journey of more than 20 years in the NFL. He began my sharing that the people he respects most are his three older sisters, who were responsible for inculcating competitiveness in him as they were all fantastic sportspeople in their own right. Speaking to Patrick Bet David, the future Hall of Fame quarterback said,
"I grew up in very fortunate I grew up in San Mateo, California, which was just south of San Francisco. Yeah, at a time when the San Francisco 49ers were the team in the NFL. And I grew up in a very sports centric family. I had three older sisters, who I always say were all better athletes than I ever was."
He also credited his parents for supporting him in his sporting career. Tom Brady said that both his parents loved sports so that culture became a part of their family. The quarterback also said,
"And I was just like their punky brat little brother that would follow them to their softball games, at nights at the basketball games, and always cheer them on. And my dad loved sports. My mom loves sports. And it was just very much a part of our family."
Tom Brady also remembered the times when only his dad and he would sneak out for some time alone. Either way, it ensured he was surrounded by sports and people he loved all the time. He said,
"So many of the memories that I had, as a kid were growing up on sports fields, going into the batting cage at night with my dad, I was the youngest of four. So we would always sneak off to the golf course when we wanted to have some boy time."
Tom Brady's external inspiration
Tom Brady also highlighted that as a fan of San Francisco 49ers, he saw his local team employ legendary quarterbacks such as Joe Montana and Steve Young. He also noted how baseball legend Barry Bonds went to the same school. Brady said,
"I just had those inspirational moments I'd say from growing up in the Bay Area and idolizing Joe Montana and Steve Young who reminds sports titles and in baseball, you know, Barry Bonds went to my high school. He's one of the greatest baseball players of all time."
Thus it is clear that the quarterback had a lot of people along the way who believed in him. He chose to thank them in person too.
"So there was the sports titles I had that really inspired me to dig deeper with myself. And I found a lot of people over the way over 46 years to support me in this journey."
So, Tom Brady had a moderately fortunate start with a supporting family and idols playing for his childhood team. But his work and dedication converted that luck into consistent elite play.