SPORTS ILLUSTRATED Q SI.COM 28resistance bands he uses and then double it back. For
the 44-year-old, time is a construct, measurable by ways
other than revolutions around the sun.
“I’d say there are parts of me that are 55, and I think
there’s parts of me that are 25,” says Brady. “What parts?
I think I’m wise beyond my years. I think I’ve had a lot of
life experience packed into 44 years. When I go through
the tunnel and onto the field? Probably mid-30s—and
I’ve got to work really hard to feel good. It’s a demolition
derby every Sunday. I feel 25 when I’m in the locker room
with the guys. Which is probably why
I still do it.”
He explains this theory of time on
a warm Tuesday in November. He’s
seated inside a Tampa yacht club—he’s
not a member, he’s quick to point out—
that looks out over Hillsborough Bay
and is convenient to Brady’s home.
He has risen early this morning (of
course). Walking with energy and
purpose he enters the main dining
room carrying a water bottle the size
of a fire extinguisher. He is wearing
designer sweats and a big, warm smile
that makes his teeth look like a row
of white iPod Nanos—kids, ask your
parents—aligned perfectly inside his
square jaw.
Back to time: How the hell is he
still doing this, volunteering for those
weekly car crashes for months and
months, well into his 40s? It’s complicated. “It’s not like
I wake up every day, like, Hey, man, it’s another sunny day!”
says Brady. “No, it’s like, All right, let’s grind and move on.”
Then he quickly adds, “There’s still joy. The competition’s
fun and, uh, you know, I’m still pretty good at it, too.”
There’s also the specter of the alternative: “I imagine
not playing. And I imagine watching football on Sundays
going, These guys suck. I could do way better than that. And
then still knowing in my heart that I actually could still
do it. If I stopped, I think I’d have to find something else
that I’m pretty good at. And I don’t think that, you know,
I’m going to be able to jump into something that has the
same amount of excitement.”
So long as that’s the case, so long as he can continue
finding fulfillment, Brady will play on, thanks. He’s fond
of a phrase that suggests continuity, one that befits some-
one so committed to hydration: Why not keep drinking?
If, in the manner of Brady’s career, we want to extend
that analogy: It’s not just that he is still drinking; he is
chugging. And there’s no indication he’s near the bot-
tom of the glass. He is at an age when even the finest“There are parts of me that are 55, and I think
THERE’S PARTS OF ME THAT ARE 25,” Brady
says. “I feel 25 when I’m in the locker room with
the guys. Which is probably why I still do it.”EMBRACE CHANGE
After 20 years with the
Patriots, it didn’t take
long for Brady to adjust
to his new team and a
different kind of coach
in Arians (above).SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR