Brady’s wife Gisele Bundchen said in May that her husband played concussed in 2016, but an NFL investigation disputes that claim
Tom Brady doesn’t worry about concussions and considers them part of playing football, the New England Patriots quarterback says in an interview that will air this Sunday.
‘I don’t worry about them, no,’ Brady told CBS Sunday Morning. ‘I mean, I’m not oblivious to them. I understand the risks that come with the physical nature of our game.’
Brady’s wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, had said in a May interview that the quarterback has had unreported concussions and she worried about his long-term health. A joint NFL and players’ union investigation found there was no evidence that Brady or the team failed to follow the league’s policies or procedures on concussions.
‘This review identified no evidence of any deviation from the Protocol by the Patriots’ medical staff or the Unaffiliated Neurotrauma Consultants assigned to Patriots’ games or any indication that Mr. Brady sustained a concussion or reported signs or symptoms consistent with having sustained a concussion,’ the NFL’s statement read.
Brady told CBS that he does not worry about concussions even though he claims he’s ‘not oblivious to them’ and ‘understands the risks’ of football
Brady was asked about his wife’s comments when the Patriots opened training camp in August.
‘I don’t want to get into things that happened in my past, certainly my medical history and so forth,’ he said. ‘I really don’t think that’s anybody’s business, what happened last year. I’m focused on this year and improvement and working on things I need to get better at.’
In light of a recent study that found chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in the brains of 110 of the 111 deceased NFL players examined, O’Donnell asked Brady what he thought the effect would be on the league.
‘I don’t know what the future is going to look like, you know, and I’m not going to pretend to predict it,’ Brady says. ‘And I’m going to do everything I can to take care of my body in advance of the, you know, of the hits that I’m going to take on Sunday.’
Now in his 18th year as a pro, Brady has been sacked 420 times in regular season games. But aside from 2008, when he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Patriots’ opener, he’s avoided serious injury.
Brady has been sacked 420 times in regular season games, but aside from 2008, when he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Patriots’ opener, he’s avoided serious injury
Brady also addressed his notoriously specific diet with CBS.
When asked about coffee, Brady said he has ‘[n]ever tried it.’
He’s tried a ‘little bit’ of salt and ‘on occasion’ has some sugar. As for dairy, Brady ‘almost never’ tries it, aside from some intermittent encounters with ice cream.
Allen Campbell, Brady’s personal chef told Boston.com what the University of Michigan product refuses to eat in January of 2016.
‘[Tom] doesn’t eat nightshades, because they’re not anti-inflammatory,’ Campbell said. ‘So no tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, or eggplants. Tomatoes trickle in every now and then, but just maybe once a month. I’m very cautious about tomatoes. They cause inflammation.’
Brady capped the 2016 season with his fifth Super Bowl title by overcoming a 21-3 halftime deficit against the Atlanta Falcons
A five-time Super Bowl champion and two-time league MVP, Brady had one of his best seasons ever last year at the age of 39. After missing the first four games to serve his ‘Deflategate’ suspension, he threw for 3,554 yards and 28 touchdowns with only two interceptions, leading the Patriots to their fifth NFL title by rallying them from a 25-point deficit to the first overtime victory in Super Bowl history.
The network said co-host Norah O’Donnell interviewed Brady multiple times, both at his suburban Boston home and at his TB12 Sports Therapy Center near the Patriots’ stadium. Now 40, Brady repeated his desire to continue playing until he’s 45 – something no non-kicker has done in modern NFL history.
‘I do want to go out on my terms,’ he said. ‘I do want go out playing my best.’
The NFL has struggled to come to terms with the danger of concussions and the lifetime health risks they pose. The league this year agreed to pay as much as $1 billion to former players who have been diagnosed with post-concussion symptoms that could include the degenerative brain disease CTE.
The NFL has also created game-day procedures in an attempt to identify concussions when they happen and keep concussed players from returning to the game.