Tom Brady was not always the GOAT of football. It took years of hard work, dedication, and trust in the process to be recognized as who he is today. After winning 7 Super Bowl championships during a glittering 23-season career, the 45-year-old has finally retired from being a signal caller on the field to move on to other ventures he’s planned out for his post-retirement lifestyle. Tom Brady has had a humble upbringing. But despite not growing up as a rich kid, his parents did their best to support their son’s dreams of playing football as a career.

And recently, the 7X Super Bowl champion went on to talk about his college football days in college. And he opened up about how he struggled and worked hard every day to grow and eventually reach the position he enjoys currently. 

Tom Brady had a wonderful mentor

During the recent eMerge Conference in Miami held in April, the retired NFL GOAT talked about how he was not born as a football player, but as a regular American kid. He went on to state that he played football on the streets with his friends as he did not “have a backyard “. He went on to talk about how he had “enough success during his high school career” that allowed him to be recruited in college. 

But in college, he was not the top pick to be the starting QB. He talked about how there were six other players ahead of him on the depth chart. Brady had to work every day to be considered a trustworthy starting QB. But even then, he had a guru showing guiding him through difficult times. Brady said, “And even in those difficult moments in college, when I didn’t necessarily always believe in myself, I had a mentor coming to my life. A psychologist for our team. His name was Greg Hardin.”

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And Hardin was the one who helped in changing Brady’s mindset and enduring the difficulties of overcoming his place as seventh on the depth chart.

Hardin helped Brady transform in college

Tom Brady further went on to talk about how the team psychologist helped him in changing his mindset and instill a sense of motivation into him during his Michigan days. He talked about how Hardin advised Tom Brady to consider his Michigan days as “one of the great opportunities” in his life. He advised Brady to work hard and keep his sense of commitment and dedication instead of transferring to another school where he might have had it easier. Hardin made Tom Brady realize that the professional league will be much tougher than what he was facing then. And Brady took up Hardin’s advice, as he went on to win the Orange Bowl with his college during his final season in Michigan. 

And the rest that followed was history. As Brady continues to settle down with his post-retirement lifestyle, fans will be hopeful of achieving the same success in his ventures just like his professional NFL career. 

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