Amidst TB12 Shutting Down Boston Store, Ex Teammate, Who Lost Spot to Tom Brady, Recaps 16 Year Old Thriving Venture

May 11, 2023 | 7:05 AM EDT

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Tom Brady was the face of the New England Patriots till he was in Foxborough. And the former quarterback has built an extensive business empire off the football field. But his business has fallen into a bit of a doldrum off late. Amid TB12 closing a store in the city of Boston, Brady’s old teammate, who lost his place in Bill Belichick’s side to him, recapped his thriving 16-year-old business venture.

Drew Bledsoe played for the Patriots for a long time before Brady came along to take his place in the side. During his stint in Foxborough, Bledsoe got a brilliant business idea involving his own hometown and he dived into it straight after hanging his cleats. That leap of faith paid rich dividends for the former QB and in a recent interview, he opened up about the time he got the idea for it.

Drew Bledsoe revisits the inception of Doubleback

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Former Patriots QB Drew Bledsoe recalled a time when he would call his friends in New England over to his house. He had only one demand, a bottle of red wine. In an interview, he recalled the time when he would get into wine tasting games around his house. That’s where he got an idea, to start his own winery.

“My little Hometown Walla Walla, Washington, this tiny little town in Southeastern Washington, while I was playing, had become one of the great wine grape growing regions of the world. So, when we did these blind tastings with all these guys, I would always put something from Walla Walla in the lineup against these fancy expensive wines from Napa and from Bordeaux. And every time we did that, the Walla Walla Wine would win. So, all of a sudden, I’m looking at it like, ‘man I like wine and my hometown where I grew up is actually kicking ass on these big boys from California and France’. That’s sort of when the light bulb went off,” Bledsoe said on ‘Pass the Torch’ podcast.

Thus, came the birth ‘Doubleback’ winery in Walla Walla in 2007. It has been a huge hit, getting a place in the Wine Spectator’s top 100 wines of the world. Business is thriving for $35 million worth of Bledsoe, but the same cannot be said about his Patriots successor Tom Brady.

Tom Brady falters a bit

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Tom Brady lost a significant part of his fortune after FTX collapsed last year. And now it looks like the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers OB is faltering in another venture too. The TB12 facility in Boston has shut its doors nearly four years after opening up. TB12, a sports therapy and lifestyle venture that Brady co-founded with his trainer Alex Guerrero, has stores in multiple locations. But the cause of closing this particular store is yet unknown.

Back in February, another company owned by the legendary QB fired multiple staff members and closed down. ‘Religion of Sports’ was a media production venture. It was the force that was behind many of the documentary films on the seven-time Super Bowl champion.

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So while Drew Bledsoe is thriving, Brady has had a few setbacks. Maybe he can learn a bit about business from his predecessor. Just like he did during their time together with the Patriots.

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