Patriots: Tom Brady’s offseason knee surgery proves he’s a unicorn

It’s considered a daunting task to play football into your mid-30s, even if you’re a quarterback.

It’s both a physically- and mentally-demanding sport.

That’s why New England Patriots fans (whether they love him or hate him at this point) have the utmost respect for Tom Brady.

He played 20 seasons for them and missed just 19 games due to injury.

And the 43-year-old quarterback, who just signed a contract extension with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, doesn’t plan on calling it quits anytime soon.

In fact, at 43 years old, Brady disclosed that he underwent “pretty serious” knee surgery this offseason … and he’s still going to captain one of the best teams in the league come Week 1.

Here’s what the seven-time champion said on Hodinkee Radio:

"“I had pretty serious knee surgery this offseason, which is the first surgery I’ve had in about 12 years. So it’s been pretty intense, this offseason, from that standpoint because it’s been six-and-a-half weeks that I’ve been dealing with that rehab process. The season went pretty long, into February. So it’s just now I’m starting to feel like the offseason’s happening, and I’m going to blink my eyes and the offseason’s going to be over. And I don’t think I’ve created this vision in terms of what I’m excited about. Like, I don’t really think I’ve created this space in my life for things outside of football to really take over that level of excitement. I still feel like throwing the football is what I love to do.”"

Brady was mostly appearing on Hodinkee Radio to talk about his love for watches, but he somehow ended up divulging some significant football information after not really talking a whole lot about this throughout the offseason.

And how about his response to all of it? He’s still so connected to football and focusing on the journey back that he’s realizing nothing outside of the sport comes close to matching the passion he has for it. In Year 22.

Yes, the Patriots’ dynasty was also fueled by some of the best coaching in league history and staunch defense, but emotion, dedication and interpersonal connectivity played a role as well. Brady brought all of that to the Patriots for two decades. The world just saw how he brought that to a largely downtrodden Buccaneers franchise, which helped dispel the notion that it wasn’t all the “Patriot Way.”

That’s why he’s one of a kind. That’s why he’s battling offseason surgery entering his age-44 season to run it back and attempt to capture back-to-back Super Bowls.

You’ll never see another Tom Brady.

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