Tom Brady made headlines this offseason when it was revealed that the seven-time Super Bowl champion had surgery to repair a torn MCL. Given that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback had just won the Super Bowl and played at a high level throughout that championship run, it was quite surprising to find out that the then 43-year-old quarterback was playing on a bum knee. Well, it appears like Brady was dealing with that injury much longer than ever realized.
Brady’s personal trainer, business partner, and close friend, Alex Guerrero, recently told Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald the specific origins of the quarterback’s knee injury. It occurred back in Week 10 of the 2018 season when Brady was still a member of the New England Patriots.
“During that one Tennessee game, was it four years ago? Remember when he ran and got tackled? That’s where he did it,” he said. “We just played on it, and did our work on it, and we’d stabilize the knee.”
Specifically, Brady hurt his knee, as Guerrero notes, on a trick play where the quarterback rolled out for a “Philly Special” type of pass. He caught the ball delivered by Julian Edelman but clumsily fell to the ground. As he was set to hit the dirt, he was also met by a Titans defender, who delivered a hard hit.
To Brady and Guerrero’s credit, they were able to manage that injury quite well. In the 40 regular-season games since he suffered the injury, Brady completed 63.8 percent of his passes, averaged 273.8 passing yards per game, and has 85 touchdowns to just 26 interceptions. Oh yeah, he’s also won two more Super Bowls. Despite being able to play through the injury, Guerrero told Brady that it was something that simply needed to be addressed.
“Finally, after last season, I’m like, ‘Tommy, as you age, this is something we just have to get fixed as soon as the season is over.’ … And he’s doing great. The rehab went well. We prepared him for the rigors of football, so now we’re into it. Two weeks in, so far, so good.”
Through two weeks, Brady and his surgically repaired knee have been on a historic pace, completing 65.1 percent of his passes for 655 yards, nine touchdowns and just two interceptions.
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