The one shocking thing that made Tom Brady cry - and what we can learn from it

If there’s one man who has seen the highs and lows in pro sports, it’s Tom Brady. 

Fantastic Super Bowl finishes. Controversy over alleged cheating. Winning MVPs and breaking records. Leading teams to unprecedented success - only to fall short at the end.

During his 20 years as one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks, Brady experienced a roller coster of emotions that every football fan knows about, but there is one episode that made him cry that few are aware of. What was it?

Putting on his first Super Bowl ring? Nope.

Losing to the New York Giants and ruining a perfect season? Nope.

Getting suspended for using deflated balls? Nope.

The injury??? Nope.

Leaving the Patriots for the Bucaneers? Nope.

Divorcing from supermodel Gisele Bundchen? Nope?

Finally retiring from the game for good? Nope.

It was what happened in California on January 26, 2020, that left him weeping.

Like everyone else, Brady was shocked to hear about the death of basketball icon Kobe Bryant.  But unlike most people, he didn’t go back to his regular life after news of the tragedy was confirmed. Instead, he felt a pain that struck him at his core.

“Why has this touched me the way that it did?” Brady asked in a post on social media. “Why has it kept me up at night, and brought me so many tears?

Brady and Bryant were not close friends. They played in different sports on opposite ends of the country. So how did Bryant’s death cause him so much grief?

At a surface level, they were kindred spirits in the pursuit of athletic excellence. Both sought to be the best at their discipline and made sacrifices their peers would not in order to reach the pinnacle of their sport.

Key to this pursuit was their reflective curiosity. Both Kobe and Tom incessantly reviewed their past performances to find ways they could improve. That meant watching footage each and every game they played, looking for mistakes they made or opportunities they missed, and making plans to address those issues the next time around. That help empower them to get better each and every year and maintain their dominance into the twilight of their careers.

But in the wake of Kobe’s death, Brady said something that was more than just a nod to a fellow high achiever:

“He was the real life superhero the world needs.”

Brady had won six Super Bowls - the most over - and was on his way to a seventh. He had become the undisputed GOAT of the NFL. And yet, he referred to Kobe as the superhero. Why? What else was going on in Kobe’s life before he died that could elevate his reputation to that level? What did Brady know about that the average football - and basketball - fan did not?

At multiple levels, Kobe was creating a legacy that went far beyond anything he accomplished on the basketball court… and those who studied him closely understood the lasting impact of his work. For a deep dive into those secrets, check out What Kobe Left Behind: The Playbook from an Extraordinary Life, now available on Amazon.