Tom Brady reveals if he would have finished career at Michigan in current landscape of college sports

In the wake of the New England Patriots unveiling a statue honoring Tom Brady, it’s been easy to reflect on his legendary career. Of course, part of what has made that career so special, aside from all his accolades, is how improbable it was to become the GOAT.

In college at Michigan, Brady struggled to consistently get on the field, consistently finding himself in a position battle with Drew Henson. That contributed to him being a sixth-round pick. Both of those would then contribute to the chip on his shoulder that helped motivate Brady throughout his NFL career.

Had Tom Brady played in the modern era, it’s easy to imagine he transferred to another school where there was a clearer path to starting. That’s a hypothetical question now. However, as Brady explained on The Joel Klatt Show, he wouldn’t change his college experience at Michigan in any way.

“It’s such a hypothetical situation, a question, to think about,” Tom Brady said. “The only thing I could answer is to say that based on what my experience was, I wouldn’t want it any other way than the way that I did it. My college experience was very challenging. It was very competitive. The lessons I learned in college… and certainly about competition, those traits transformed my life as a professional.”

The majority of Brady’s playing time would end up coming in the 1998 and 1999 seasons at Michigan. That included winning a memorable Orange Bowl in overtime against Alabama in 1999. In his career, he’d complete 61.9 percent of his passes for 4,773 yards and 30 touchdowns. That was amid a quarterback battle, which would help prepare him for a similar battle in the NFL with franchise quarterback Drew Bledsoe.

“I was ready to compete against anybody,” Brady said. “Because the competition in college toughened me up so much that I had a self-belief and self-confidence in myself that whatever I faced, I could overcome that. I think if we take that away from a young student-athlete to say, ‘I know it’s tough to compete, but what we’re gonna do, before you have to compete, we’re actually gonna put you somewhere else so that you don’t have to compete.’ That is absolutely the wrong thing to do to a young child.”

The new transfer rules, which make it so players can move without sitting out for a season, have led to this increased movement. Quarterbacks, in particular, frequently move for playing time. However, Tom Brady doesn’t think that it’s necessarily smart to move around that way.

“I would challenge all the coaches and all the parents. They’re the ones that have to guide these kids. You can’t expect a 17 or 18-year-old to make these great decisions. They’re young. They don’t have life experience. It should be the parents. Be a good parent. Teach your kid the right values. What’s going to sustain them in their careers over a period of time? Whether it’s football or whether it’s business or whether it’s teaching or law school or medical school or a trade, whatever you want to do, you’re going to have to go through hard things in your life. You’re going to have to make tough choices. The value isn’t always about the last dollar,” Brady said.

“So, I think all these things that are happening in college sports, we’re prioritizing the wrong things. We’re valuing the wrong things. I’m not saying it’s not important. It’s one of 10 things that are important and, certainly, to me, it’s not the most important. So, when kids do go through that the right way, they’re actually learning the right values. When you have the right values in life, that’s going to sustain you as you move on through the rest of your life.”

Not every quarterback who stays to compete is going to become Tom Brady. Regardless, it’s clearly something Brady himself is proud to have gone through at Michigan. Without it, it’s hard to say the direction his own career would have taken him.