The Spiritual Side of Tom Brady
Tom Brady sat down with Oprah Winfrey last weekend, and gave us a rare glimpse into both his personal and spiritual life. In a wide ranging interview on CNN‘s Super Soul Sunday, Brady revealed that something greater than football defines who he is.
“Spirituality is my greatest purpose,”Brady said.” I want to know why we are all here and where we are going.”
Those are some powerful words spoken by a five time Super Bowl Champion, and Oprah was right there with the obvious follow up question.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I think I have curiosities in many ways,” Brady said. “I think a lot of it is learning and loving to learn. My wife would say we are human beings having a spiritual experience. I want to live a purposeful life, and I want to impact people from the lessons that I’ve learned.”
Brady was asked about life after football:
“I am seeing there is an end coming sooner rather than later.”
On his relationship with Bill Belichick:
“I love him.”
About kissing his son on the lips during an episode of Tom vs Time.
“I grew up in an affectionate family. The hard part was I thought he would get teased at school.”
As for his thoughts on being considered the best quarterback of all time, Brady had this to say:
“I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all. I am not attached to that feeling and I don’t care if people feel that way or not. I just want to be the best quarterback I can be.”
Oprah and Brady had this exchange on the topic of DeflateGate.
Oprah: “What did it teach you?”
Brady: “It taught me a lot of things. It taught me about the people I could really count on. It taught me a lot about life.”
Oprah: “What made you decide to let it go?”
Brady: “I realized I couldn’t win.”
At the end of the interview, Oprah asked Brady to read this letter he had recently posted on his Facebook page:
“If you happen to be very lucky, when you are 10 years old, you will have people in your life who tell you the world is anything you want it to be, and you will believe them. And those people will never put limits on your abilities. In return, no matter the circumstances, you always try your best and you never give up, because that’s what you do when you’re chasing your dream.”
If you’re lucky, you will have family, teammates, coaches, mentors and trainers along the way to help you when you lose faith in yourself. And they will give you the strength to carry on.
If you’re lucky, you may get picked last, you may ride the bench, and many times the team may move on without you, and you come to recognize that, in return, you are given the chance to earn the greatest edge of all and one that can never be taken away:
WILL.
HEART.
To anyone who feels left out or is afraid of trying their best for fear of failure, you are not alone. The magic you’re looking for is in the WILL of trying and not giving up. The love of your dream is in your HEART. One day, you will look back on your life and appreciate the struggle and have nothing but gratitude for everything that happened along the way.
To anyone who is struggling early in the morning or late at night in pursuit of your dream, struggles that many will never see, and to any leaders out there who believe in someone who doesn’t yet believe in themselves…
Keep going.
Keep going.
Because WILL always finds a way”
Oprah then wrapped up the interview by saying, “Tom Brady just preached. Y’all, Tom Brady just took us to church.”
Amen to that.
photo courtesy Boston Globe
