"Who the f--k is Tom Brady?" - 10x MLB All-Star once failed to recognize Patriots legend

Tom Brady is undeniably one of the best professional athletes in the world. His achievements have placed him on par with some of the greatest across other sports as well. Brady is also a multimillionaire with celebrity status, as well as friends with other prominent figures in America, including President Donald Trump. If that’s not enough, he was the husband of supermodel Gisele Bündchen.

With such an impressive resume, there is hardly anyone who might be unfamiliar with the legend. However, a story shared by baseball coach Don Mattingly caught many people's attention in May 2018, revealing that MLB legend Ichiro Suzuki didn’t know who Tom Brady was. According to Mattingly’s account:

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“One morning in spring training, 2017, he [Ichiro] was in the coaches’ room looking at his cell phone text messages. Ichiro told the coaches about one message he had just received from a number he didn’t recognize. The guy said he’d gotten Ichiro’s number from Alex Rodriguez, and that he wanted to come meet him and study his stretching system.”

“‘What’s the guy’s name?’ asked one of the coaches, and Ichiro responded, ‘Some guy named Tom Brady. Who the f— is Tom Brady?’”

Tom Brady wanted to learn from Ichiro Suzuki

Tom Brady was trying his best to prolong his career through exercises. So, in his determination, he reached out to Ichiro Suzuki, known for his stretching routines that kept him fit for nearly three decades. Although the anecdotal incident may have brought some laughter to many, it is also puzzling to others.

It may be true that Suzuki wasn’t aware of Brady since he joined the Mariners in 2001 after playing in the NPB earlier. Some may argue that Suzuki was so engrossed in his sport that he never bothered to learn about others.

Suzuki had been playing in the MLB for over 15 seasons by 2017, and Brady was a household name in the country. They started their careers around the same time: Brady in 2000 and Suzuki in 2001.

Suzuki was recently inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, making him the first player from Japan to achieve this honor. His career spanned an astounding 28 seasons, during which he was featured 10 times on the MLB All-Star list.

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