Tom Brady named 2021 sportsperson of the year
doubledragon
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Tom Brady has been named Sports Illustrated 2021 sportsperson of the year.
Tom Brady balances regret over leaving too early with regret over staying too late
The latest testament to the uncanny longevity of Tom Brady‘s playing career comes from the fact that, 16 years after securing the top annual award from Sports Illustrated, he’s once again the Sportsperson of the Year. In a companion cover story with the magazine, Brady’s comments to Jon Wertheim illustrate a delicate balance that Brady hopes to achieve as he selects the perfect time to retire.
As his accomplishments grow larger and larger, the needle he’ll be trying to thread will become smaller and smaller. Put simply, he needs to avoid leaving too early, and staying too late.
“I imagine not playing,” Brady told Wertheim. “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.”
That’s the on one hand position. Here’s the other.
“Regressing would be a very difficult thing for me to see,” Brady said. “As soon as I see myself regress, I’ll be like, ‘I’m out.’ I don’t really want to see myself get bad. So it’s just a constant pursuit of trying not to be bad.”
Father Time remains undefeated, even if Brady has staved him off longer than any NFL player has or perhaps will. If he’ll exit “as soon as” he sees himself regress, it opens up the possibility of an unexpected and sudden retirement, perhaps during training camp or even during the season. Would he finish a season that he has started even if he realizes that it’s ending if not over before the season ends? Surely, he’ll want to avoid being in that kind of situation, where he has no choice but to walk away from a team that had expected to have him for the full season.
That makes his effort in each offseason to evaluate the question of whether he can hold it together for another year critically important. He has made it clear that he’ll finish his current contract in Tampa, which runs through 2022. Then, it will become more challenging for Brady to know when to say enough.
There’s another element that Brady needs to be paying attention to, and it’s the dynamic that ultimately drove Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells out of football. Once the losses create far more torment than the wins generate pleasure, it makes no sense to continue.
“I think if anything, the most challenging part is the emotional aspect of football for me,” Brady told Wertheim. “When we lose, it’s depressing. When we win, it’s a relief. It’s not like the joy, the happiness — it’s a relief. Because when we win, sometimes just winning isn’t good enough for you, because you expect perfection, and when you expect perfection and it’s less than perfect, you feel like there’s a down part to that.”
Maybe he’s always been that way. But if the only true enjoyment for Brady comes from the fleeting rush of adrenaline that occurs when hoisting the Lombardi Trophy (which to be fair lasts long enough for him to get Weekend at Bernie’s drunk on avocado tequila), the question of whether it’s worth all the effort and sacrifice and focus and stress will become louder and louder, the older and older he gets.
Comments
No comments yet, I'm a bit disappointed, I can forgive, but I shall not forget.
He has said similar things years ago..... "I'll quit when I suck".
I thought we could have champagne, perhaps a buffet. This has been a disappointing sportsman of the year celebration.
was there really any other choice than brady this year? I mean, a 43 year old QB goes to a new team, does not have training camp or preseason, and wins the super bowl on his home field.
and again i say, at 43 years old.
it is something we have never ever ever seen before.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
To be fair, in 2021, all he did was win a few playoff games. The "new team", no training camp, no preseason was all 2020.
Yes, that's a mighty fine hair I just split
Now this party is starting to pick up, everyone fix yourselves a plate, let's talk Brady!
Sportsperson? I thought he was a Cyborg like the terminator.
He is, I can confirm this, "I'll be quarterback!"
This is my all time favorite image of Brady, dressed like a Patriot, sitting on a throne, it is bad a..
I knew there would be champagne.
Wow, just wow, I didn't realize Brady is so tall.
Get out of here Rodgers, this is a private party, you weren't invited!
I knew he would crash the party! 😂😂😂
This is a bad omen. You know what happens guys who end up on the cover of Sports Illustrated. It should have been Mahomes or Rogers.
Ok Rodgers, if you insist on staying then go over in the corner and sip a bowl of milk, and stay away from Tom!
SI or Madden cover is not good!
And it is sportsperson of the year.
All sports
All sexes
All powerful
I can only say 43.
Would he be it for the 2011-2020 decade?
at least they can't take the cover story away.
but I don't believe in curses or omens or the jinx
I’m not 100% sure either way but for an interesting read, google both the SI Cover Jinx and the Madden Cover Curse. It’s crazy but there is a ton of interesting facts behind both claims
And the Red Sox would never win a World Series again until they did. Cubs, too.
I’m not saying it’s factual but it’s a fun read.
Check it out or not no biggie
Speaking of curses, there is a curse going on right now that's very interesting, the Manningcast curse. Every player that has appeared on the Manningcast has lost the next week.
Hey, tell me about it, the Manningcast curse is a mystery. I haven't seen a mystery like this since they found that Rocky Balboa shaped green pepper in Peru.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
the only one I can think of may be novak in tennis. but really, what brady did that decade in his 30s and 40s is unprecedented. i think it would have to be tommy.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
I guess sportsperson has nothing to do with sportsmanship since he is a cheater and refuses to shake hands with opponents that beat him. I think one underreported aspect of his cheating is him taking a below market salary while having his team pay his shady TB12 company. Why can’t every team just pay their players nothing to avoid the salary cap but have them set up a company that gets paid millions by the team? I guess if this is based purely on 2021 then they can ignore that stuff but it seems to me that the sportsperson of the year shouldn’t have a history of terrible sportsmanship.
The award should've gone to Novak Djokovic. But we all know that this award is just a popularity contest. And Novak isn't as popular as Roger Federer. But one heck of a year.
Wimbledon champion
French Open Champion
Australian Open Champion
U.S. Open finalist
BROKE numerous records in 2021. Including most weeks ranked #1(350 and counting) and most year end number one rankings(7) broke Sampras's record of 6.
Terry Bradshaw was AMAZING!!
Ignore list -Basebal21
It would be much easier for you to just type out how much you Hate the Patriots and your jealousy of their success is making you crazy 😂😂😂
L> @perkdog said:
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As I said in another thread, I am the biggest Brady fan, but no man is perfect. I am aware of his not shaking hands and wish he had. Maybe he will lose to my Pats this year and have an opportunity to redeem himself by shaking the hands of Mac Jones and Belichick. You never know. But as for calling his company shady, I don't agree. I am actually on board with a lot of things medically that others don't agree with, and I know that lots of people, even tons of Patriots fans, have looked at some of the things he recommends and used that as ammo against him.
A wise man once said " Show me a good loser....and I'll show you a LOSER."
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Ralph
Honestly I’m the biggest Tom Brady fan but it does not extend beyond what he did for the Patriots. I have no desire to meet him, no desire to talk to him and only own a few framed photos and inexpensive cards of his. I don’t know anything about TB12 except him focusing on pliability and avocado ice cream lol
As far as his bad sportsmanship goes? Yea I can agree that he has been a crybaby a bunch of times as well as a huge douche.
Like I said “Tom Brady the QB” is who I’m a fan of, and as long as he isn’t hurting people maliciously I couldn’t care less about what he does outside of football.
The not shaking hands thing , I think it has to do with not wanting to lose, he hates losing so bad that it tears him apart inside when he does lose, and that's one of the reasons that makes him so great. Here's what he said one time about winning:
"If you’re going to compete against me you better be willing to give up your life, because I’m giving up mine."
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Brady's beliefs, and the beliefs of his trainer Guerrero, sometimes run counterpoint to the accepted beliefs of Western medicine. So things they might recommend are not what many doctors or the media sell to you. A lot of people, and Pats fans specifically, jumped all over Brady for things he sells, specifically having to do with your immune system and also concussions.
@perkdog But I guess whatever he is doing works for him, given his unprecedented success for such a prolonged period of time.
Also, many NFL players, and other athletes, have come to him (andTB12 by extension) for help and advice. And this can run counter to what the NFL accepts. His trainer, Guerrero, is around him a lot. Brady wants him to have full access, even being him helping him after games as necessary for purposes of inflammation and injury. @perkdog Remember when the Pats banned Guerrero? Well. he isn't banned in Tampa.
I was against the Pats sticking their nose in that, I mean I understood the vested interest in Brady’s health but what the heck, he was as successful as he could be for crying out loud. All that was was Belichick invoking his “Boss” thing, nothing more nothing less in my opinion.
As far as medical stuff, every person is different and what works for one might not work for another. Brady is doing him and good for him if it works
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As far as I know, it actually extends a little further. The NFL is liable for what they allow to happen to players medically, as seen in the many lawsuits regarding concussions and injuries and CTE, etc. I have heard of many players going against the grain in terms of recommendations by the teams in terms of training or medicine, etc and there being push back. Some of the things that Brady does are antithetical to those recommendations. There are guys in the league who are now following a lot of Brady's recommendations.
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There are certain traits or things about Brady that make him who he is. Some of those make his decisions look nonsensical or off-putting to some people. Two examples are the hand shake thing and continuing to play despite all of the money and accomplishments already earned.
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Brady was taking team-friendly deals long before the first TB12 store opened in 2013 (I believe, correct me if I am wrong).
^^^^^ this is correct. the only athlete i have ever witnessed in my lifetime who wanted to win as much as Tom Brady is Michael Jordan.
those two are on a whole different level.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
I believe the deal he signed in 2010 was the biggest or one of the biggest in NFL history and then in 2013 when TB12 started up he took a deal well below his market value and continued to do so after that. I really wonder why other teams haven’t tried this. Maybe they think they can’t get away with it because it’s not Tom Brady but it would be pretty easy to set up a company for every big name player and just funnel the money though there and keep the official salary really low.
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The 2010 deal, if I remember correctly, was briefly record setting. However, in my opinion, that deal and his previous deals were team friendly. He was not holding the team hostage. By 2005 Brady was one of the most accomplished players ever and could have demanded anything he wanted. I do concede that Brady opened the first TB12 in Foxboro in 2013. I am quite sure that the financial benefits of such a thing went in many directions, not just towards Brady.
These must be nothing but American awards. Simone Biles was named athlete of the year by time magazine. The athlete who quit on her team
Terry Bradshaw was AMAZING!!
Ignore list -Basebal21
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To tie this into the Bonds/HOF/cheating thread, when all of that happened with her, I heard talk that she (along with many others) were impacted by Japan's controlled substance laws and was not able to have all of her medication. True? I don't know.
Her ADHD medication is banned in Japan but athletes got an exemption for the Olympics.
Glad someone said it.
can you imagine, simone biles, athlete of the year.
she didn't even deserve a participation trophy.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
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Well, if so that wasn't the reason for her behavior.
But but but EVERYONE gets a trophy!!!
🙄🤮