Retired NFL Great Tom Brady Once Likened Kobe Bryant to Derek Jeter in a Way Only He Could

There are personalities that are famous, and then there are people who are legendary. Kobe Bryant, Derek Jeter, and Tom Brady all fall into the latter category. Each a master of their respective sport, these athletes rose above their game to achieve superstardom. When one thinks of football, Tom Brady’s name is at the top. Similarly, baseball is synonymous with Derek Jeter, while basketball means Kobe Bryant.

Despite their respective positions, or perhaps because of them, the trio were friends. Brady and Jeter are still connected, but Bryant’s name is not associated with them anymore. The NBA great passed away in an airplane crash in 2020, along with his daughter Gianna and seven other passengers. Both Jeter and Brady offered their heartfelt condolences to his family, remembering the man he was.

But before that tragedy, the three respected each other so well that Brady once said Bryant reminded him of Jeter in their method of play.

Tom Brady once said that Derek Jeter and Kobe Bryant played the game right

To get to the top, a winning mentality is a must. That obsession with being a champion, the madness that talent brings in its wake – all three athletes had it, unsurprisingly. In an ESPN interview in 2012, Brady talked about his own models that were sportspersons.

“I actually saw Kobe Bryant for the first time when they went to the [NBA] Finals in Boston. It’s someone that I really look up to and admire, because of his competitiveness. I’d never met him before. You always watch other athletes and how they play the game and what makes them successful,” he told James Walker.

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The former QB continued, “You see them play the game the way you think it needs to be played, like Derek Jeter. I love the way that he plays the game. You see some of those great caliber athletes. You look up to them and admire what it takes day in and day out to be a great player.”

Brady and Jeter both penned personal tributes to Bryant after his death

Tragedies remind us to spend more time with our loved ones, or so Jeter said in his emotional tribute to Bryant. The former Yankee’s new media platform, The Player’s Tribune, focuses on athletes’ stories from their own perspectives. Jeter wrote about the Kobe he knew, the one who focused on his family.

Brady’s homage came a month after the accident, in the form of an essay. “… he walked the walk and did the work. He pushed others to find that same confidence. He was the real life superhero our world needs,” the NFL legend wrote in an Instagram post.

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These three may have retired, but the sports world will never forget their name.