Myers Gary - My First Coach

T om Brady was by his locker getting dressed for practice a few days before the New England Patriots would beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game in 2017. He had been suffering in silence for more than a year after his mother, Galynn, was diagnosed with cancer. His closest friends on the team and in the front office knew, as well as a few oth ers. I asked him how his mother was doing.

Better, he said. Thanks for asking.

His father, Tom Brady Sr., had always been Toms most reliable and valued support system, but he had been to just one game all season, and that was when the Patriots played the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara, just a short ride from the Brady home in San Mateo. His father was incredibly devoted to his mother and didnt make any trips to Foxborough during the 2016 regular season, and he wouldnt be attending the championship game in Foxborough, either.

Tom understood. He knew his father had his priorities in the correct order.

My dad is a great guy, he said quietly by his locker.

He has always felt that way. They have been each others best friend. When Brady was deciding which college to attend, it came down to Michigan and Cal-Berkeley. Tom Sr. didnt want to influence his sons decision and then be held responsible if things didnt work out. Privately, he was rooting for Cal, just thirty-five miles from his front door. He figured his son would play football on Saturdays and play golf with him on Sundays.

Tom decided on Michigan. It literally broke my heart, Tom Sr. said.

Eight weeks of psychological counseling to deal with the separation helped Tom Sr. He and Galynn attended 90 percent of Toms games at Michigan, home and away, even when he wasnt starting. In his first four years as the Patriots starter, they were at every one of his games. Then it was just home games. Then it was just Tom Sr., as he combined business in the Boston office of his estate planning company with Patriots home games.

Brady Sr. was outspoken in defending his son during the NFLs $5 million investigation of deflated footballs in 2015 that became known as Deflategate. Tom Sr. was likely saying what Tom was thinking but couldnt say himself. Tom Sr. phoned into a San Francisco radio show and called Commissioner Roger Goodell a flaming liar.

Even if Brady agreed with his father, he would never say it. Dad, he said, youre not doing me any favors.

Its one of the few times in Bradys life he could say that to his father.

My First Coach explores the important relationship between quarterbacks and their fathers. It provides many life lessons for boys and girls and mothers and fathers through the experiences of some of the best-known and most interesting quarterbacks of this generation.

What parent cant relate to working their schedule around driving their kids to baseball, football, basketball, and soccer practices and games? Or sitting in the stands trying not to make it too obvious which kid is theirs?

Every parent knows the anxiety of not seeing their son or daughter on the field and thinking the coach is being unfair. It is not limited to kids with minimal athletic ability. Joe Flacco, who would go on to become a first-round draft pick and Super Bowl MVP, couldnt get off the bench at Pitt and had to transfer to Delaware. Joe Montanas older son, Nathaniel, hardly played in high school.

There is more than one way to raise a quarterback. Some fathers want to be involved in every aspect of their sons athletic lives. Some like to coach. Others take a step back. Even others are overbearingconfronting coaches and complaining about playing time. Indifference is not a trait I found in football fathers. Indifference is not what their sons wanted.

The closeness of the Brady family became evident on the Monday night of Super Bowl LI week in Houston in 2017. Brady was asked who his hero was.

Thats a great question, he said. I think my dad is my hero, because hes someone Ive looked up to every day.

As he was answering, Brady became choked up and teary-eyed. His mothers health issues and his fathers dedication to her greatly contributed to his emotions.

He was just a great example for me, and he was always someone who supported me in everything I did, to come home at night and bring me out, hit me ground balls and fly balls. I loved baseball growing up, Brady said. And to have a chance to go to the 49ers game on the weekend with him and my mom and throw the ball in the parking lot before the games, those are memories that Ill have forever.

Tom Sr. and Galynn arrived in Houston for the Super Bowl at the end of the week after she received medical clearance to attend her first game of the year. When Brady made those comments about his father, Tom Sr. was back home in San Mateo and was deeply touched.

I think every father relishes time with their sons, and you never know if the son relishes time with his father, he said. For me to hear he respects me, and as much as I respect him, is the most satisfying feeling that I could ever have.

Like his son, Brady Sr. is emotional when discussing their relationship.

I remember when he was still in high school and I would go in to wake him up in the morning so we could go play golf, he said. It was always the greatest joy for me that he wanted to play golf with me. Years later, he made the comment that I never wanted to stay out late out on Friday night because I wanted to play golf with my dad Saturday morning.

He thought about that for a second. He wanted to grasp the full meaning. Its more than gratifying, he said. Its really a fulfillment of my dream. I love every minute I can spend with my son. He knows hes not the only father so fortunate that his son feels that way, and he never takes it for granted. Many dads that I know love hanging with their kids, he said.