Regardless of what happens in Sunday’s Super Bowl, Tom Brady is without question one of the most accomplished athletes of all time.
But there’s another athlete who shares a name with the greatest quarterback ever walking (or running) the same Ann Arbor streets that Tom Terrific once did.
That’s right, there’s another Tom Brady at the University of Michigan.
This Tom is 20 years old and runs on the Wolverines’ track & field team. He is a huge Bears fan and has never rooted for the guy whose name he shares. The younger Brady even wore No. 12 for a year playing youth football as a tight end.
“I think I might have more touchdown catches than Tom Brady,” the younger (and faster) Brady quips.
Sports Illustrated briefly chatted with Tom about sharing his name with a legend and his own personal goals in sports. The following interview was edited lightly for clarity.
Sports Illustrated: What’s the history of the name in your family?
Tom Brady: My great-grandfather was named Tom Brady, my grandfather is Tom Brady and my father is Tom Brady. I’m not the fourth because we all have different middle names but it is a pretty common name in the family. I was born in 2000 and I’m guessing my dad had heard of Tom Brady because he follows football so he probably would have known there was a good quarterback at Michigan named Tom Brady, but I was definitely not named after him.
SI: How often do you have funny interactions with people because of your name?
TB: One actually happened today. I was at the grocery store and we get a set amount of money every week for groceries. I was checking in with my name and (the clerk) was looking at the screen for like 30 seconds. She turned to me and asked, ‘Is that you?’ She just looked so shocked that my name is Tom Brady. I had to show her my ID and she said ‘Wow, you actually are Tom Brady.’
SI: What’s it like being introduced as Tom Brady when competing as an athlete yourself?
TB: One year when I was in high school, we were at the conference meet and they were announcing all the guys that were all-conference runners. When we walked up to the podium, they announced me and said, ‘Tom Brady… no, not that one!’ I’ll always remember that moment.
SI: I know you’re a Bears fan. Did you ever think about rooting for the Patriots?
TB: No. I’ve always been a massive Bears fan. My dad is a huge Bears fan. I was raised to root against Tom Brady at all costs. I was at a Bears vs. Patriots game and I think the Bears lost 42-10. It was cold, snowing and just not a good day. I was like ‘Man, my namesake just picked us apart.’ But you have to respect his work ethic and I’ll admit that he’s probably the GOAT. I didn’t want to admit that for a while.
SI: Even if you don’t root for him, do you look up to Brady as a fellow athlete?
TB: If I get comparisons to him, I take it as an honor because he’s probably known as the hardest-working athlete out there. I heard a story about him where he was yelling at his teammates after the NFC Championship Game for being all excited. But, they still have another job to do. I try to take that into what I do. I can honestly say I’ve probably had one race in my entire life that I was ever satisfied with. I always want more and I always want to work harder to be better.
KS: What are some of your personal goals this season?
TB: As far as indoor goes, I just want to be competitive within the Big Ten. We’ll have our indoor championships in a little less than a month and I just want to put on a good race and compete with some of the best guys in our conference. We possibly have a cross-country season at the same time. We didn’t get to go to the Big Ten [Championships] because of the university’s shutdown, which was unfortunate but understandable. Hopefully, we’ll have an opportunity to compete and qualify for nationals. As a team, it would be really exciting to podium at the championships. That has been a goal of mine since March 12, 2020 when things got shut down.
SI: Who will you be rooting for in the Super Bowl?
TB: I’ll be rooting for the Chiefs. I know people want me to root for Tom Brady but I was raised to root against him. It’s hard. It’s as if someone asked me to root for the Packers — I can’t do that. It goes against everything I believe in.
