Editor’s note: With Tom Brady announcing his retirement from the NFL on Feb. 1, 2023, let’s take a look back at 2021, when we first heard about another Tom Brady in Ann Arbor.
Imagine first stepping onto your college campus and instantly becoming the talk of the town. That’s what the University of Michigan is like even today for Tom Brady.
“When I came on my official visit, I was walking with my host,” Brady said in an interview with NCAA.com. “Like 2 minutes in, he’s like, ‘You know Tom Brady is a big deal here, right?’”
Not too far in the distance, a swarm of Wolverine fans left Michigan Stadium. This was 2018 and the Wolverines had just beaten SMU, 45-20. Some fans wore a No. 10 Tom Brady Michigan jersey or a No. 12 Tom Brady Patriots jersey.
That was the moment when it really hit 18-year old Tom Brady from Park Ridge, Illinois, that he signed a letter of intent with the same university where Tom Brady, a six-time Super Bowl champion, laid the foundation for his legendary NFL career.
SUPER BOWL LV: Where the Chiefs and Buccaneers played in college
The Wolverines track and field program was one of many in the country that made Brady’s shortlist. Growing up in Park Ridge and attending Maine South High School, Brady excelled in Spanish, science and social science. He graduated in the top 1 percent of his high school class as a National Merit finalist. Balancing running with academics was and still is his way of life, and he would not have it any other way.
“It’s very hard especially with [majoring in] computer science at Michigan,” Brady said. “It’s pretty demanding of my time. Once I get outside of practice, I take care of what I need to take care of and then focus on getting my schoolwork done. I feel like I usually don’t have time to relax. I wake up, eat breakfast, go to class, practice, eat, work on homework somewhere in there, sleep. There’s no relaxing, and it’s something I’m OK with because I really enjoy…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at NCAA.com > football fbs articles and video…