“Never Really Went Head-To-Head”: Kelly Slater Once Shied Away From Answering if He Was the Tom Brady of Surfing

Kelly Slater is considered one of the greatest in the surfing world. But despite the immense popularity, the surfing legend is as down to earth as one can be. Slater was once asked if he agrees with the opinion of the masses that he is the Tom Brady of Surfing. Initially, the humble king politely refused to answer the question, citing the reason that he has been conditioned to not boast about himself.

Apart from being the legend in Surfing, Slater is an environmental activist who works for the betterment of society. But no matter how far up in the sky he reaches, Slater remains close to his roots.

Is Kelly Slater the Tom Brady of Surfing?

In 2017, Kelly Slater appeared on the Dan Patrick show. Herein, Patrick asked Slater the question that left the surfing icon short of words. He asked the surfer if he agrees that he is the Tom Brady of the surfing world. To this Slater replied, “I don’t know. This actually feels like a conversation I shouldn’t be a part of.”

However, when Partick insisted he answer the question, what Slater said next is nothing but adorable. “My mom had beat it into me as a kid, ‘Don’t talk about yourself,'” said the then 45-year-old surfer. However, getting back to the serious side of the conversation, Slater explained that there is no definite way to decide who the GOAT is. He added that the results would differ from sport to sport and generation to generation.

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According to Slater, different sports had different extraordinary athletes at different times. One cannot judge these athletes under the same parameters. He continued, “Can you say Tiger Woods and Jack Nicholas weren’t once better than the other? They never really went head-to-head so you don’t see and it was a different type of game and equipment. I think the ones good in sports are great in most aspects of what they do. Like they are the top echelon of each of these skills,” he concluded.

What is Slater up to in 2022?

Even at 50, Kelly Slater is far from being done with amazing the world with his exceptional talent. In February 2022, Slater won his 8th Pipeline Master Crown in Hawaii. He did this just a few days before his 50th birthday.

Looking at the long list of achievements, it is safe to say that the only thing this surfer knows is to win. Slater is determined to win his 12th world title and won’t stop until he gets it.

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It would be fun to watch if the surfing GOAT would be able to achieve his target or not before he decides to surrender his board.