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Tom Brady's mother actually believes her son is really fast
Moms just see their kids differently, right? Perfect, without flaws and better than the other kids. That’s the way it should be.
It’s the same with Tom Brady and his mother. Mrs. Brady loves her son dearly, we’re certain, and the New England Patriots quarterback confirmed that on Wednesday when asked about a key scramble against the Pittsburgh Steelers — with the auspice of knowing, well, the dude is as slow as a sloth.
“Don’t tell my mom that,” Brady said. “She would totally disagree with that. She thinks I’m very fast. She’ll say, ‘I think you’re the fastest person on the field.’ I say, ‘Mom, you’re crazy. There’s no way.’ That’s moms.”
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Adorable. My mom thought I was a good artist when I was in grade school. I drew pencil sketches of 1980s baseball players — Dale Murphy, Marty Barrett, Tim Wallach, e.g. — and she would hang them throughout the house. Looking back at my “talent,” it was stunning she risked the real-estate appreciation of the house so greatly.
It’s not a knock at Brady, the quarterback, of course. The dude is part cyborg. But he’s just a golem when it comes to running fast. He has averaged 4.0 rush yards per game in his career. Michael Vick once had more rushing yards in a season than Brady has had (905) in his 228-game career. We’ve known about his foot speed for years, back to before he even signed an NFL contract.
But for Brady, a man who works tirelessly on his craft (and, who knows, maybe has a little added juice in his legs after his four-game hiatus), perhaps there is more natural running ability in him than we give him credit for.
First off, he’s one of the best QB sneakers of all time, although that clearly doesn’t require foot speed. Second, do you remember the time he faked Brian Urlacher out of his shoes in 2006? That was fantastic but more shimmy than straight-ahead burst. If Brady can scoot unchecked out of the pocket and catch the defense off guard a few times a game, why not do it? Just one more arrow in his quiver.
“I think it’s a little discouraging for a defense when they feel like they got you covered or they have the right call on and then all of a sudden … I don’t think they’re preparing for me scrambling for first downs,” he said. “I know they’re not working on that.”
And deep down, mom has to know her son is not — and certainly not measured by NFL standards — anything close to fast. But isn’t that what makes moms great?
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
