Tom Brady is viewed by many as the greatest quarterback the NFL has ever seen, but there was a time when he was just another player while with the Michigan Wolverines.
Born in San Mateo, California, the youngster arrived on campus in 1995 and was seventh on the depth chart. Given he wasn’t a five-star recruit, there were few expectations that Brady would ever work his way up and even take the field.
That’s exactly what happened during his first two years with Michigan, as he was glued to the bench while watching Brian Griese lead the team to a national championship in 1997.
With his college eligibility ticking away, Brady even considered transferring to Cal in order to be closer to home. However, a talk with Michigan’s assistant athletic director Greg Harden changed all that.
That talk with Harden, a sports psychologist who had worked with countless athletes, helped change and shape Brady’s mindset.
Rather than focusing on what he wasn’t getting, Brady learned that he had to control what he could – whether that be his attitude, his preparation and his approach to every rep.
“Soon, I was getting 4 reps. Then 10, and before you knew it-with this new mindset that Greg had instilled in me-to focus on what you can control, to focus on what you’re getting, not what anyone else is getting, to treat every rep like it’s the Super Bowl-eventually, I became the starter,” Brady said.
Brady never looked back from there
By 1998, Brady was finally starting in what was his junior year. He led Michigan to a 10-3 record and a Big Ten title, and also set a school record for most completions in a rivalry game with Ohio State.
He carried that momentum into 1999 when he helped Michigan win the the Orange Bowl in a dramatic 35-34 game with Alabama.
Brady ended his time in Ann Arbor with 5,351 yards and 35 touchdowns, but that didn’t impress NFL scouts, as he fell to the 199th overall pick in the sixth round.
That’s when the New England Patriots took him, and the rest, as they say, is history.
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