Whether you love or hate Tom Brady, at the very least you have to respect him, and not because of what he's done over the course of his career.
Everyone knows about the five Super Bowl rings and the records, but that's not why you should respect the greatest quarterback of all-time.
No, the world should respect Brady because he's had to work harder than anyone to become the GOAT. He was a 6th round pick out of Michigan in 2000, and sometimes we forget that.
Nobody expected Brady to be a half-decent starter in the NFL, let alone the greatest signal caller the game has ever seen, but Tom believed in himself and his abilities from day one, literally.
There's a famous story Robert Kraft has told before about one of his first interactions he had with Brady in his rookie year, and it goes something like this, via CBS Sports:
“I always remember him coming down the stairs at the old stadium. He said to me, ‘Hi, I’m Tom Brady.’ And he looked me in the eye and he said, ‘And I’m the best decision this organization has ever made.’”
Jonathan Kraft, Robert's son, recently added to the story, making it all the more unbelievable:
“I said, ‘God, really?’ I’m like, ‘Was he cocky?’ And my father said to me, ‘I’m telling you. There’s something about the way he said it that I believe him.'”
Everyone knows what happened next, Brady replaced Drew Bledsoe and he, along with Bill Belichick, turned the Patriots into one of the greatest franchises in NFL history.
Obviously Brady couldn't have imagined in his wildest dreams that he would go on to win five Super Bowls after he told Kraft he was the best decision the Patriots had ever made, but some part of us thinks he knew he truly would be the GOAT.
(H/T: FTW and CBS Sports)
