But he did work his butt off, eventually ditching his two-donut-a-day habit in favor of healthier choices, and was actually a three-sport athlete who was drafted by Major League Baseball’s Montreal Expos out of high school in 1995. Knowing he wanted to play football, though, he headed to the University of Michigan, where things went…alright. After being the backup quarterback for two years, he became the Wolverines’ main-time QB. He went 20-5 including Bowl wins in his two seasons as a starter.
“I think being naïve allowed me to accomplish a lot of things,” he told Shepard. He said that he was naive and had heard people say, “Oh you want to play football at college.” “Like when people said, ‘Oh you’re going to college and play football?'” Please enter your email address think?'” The two of them had a good laugh at his rash assumption that things would be exactly as planned. “I look back and I’m, like, the odds to overcome all those things [were incredible].”
After graduation, Brady entered the 2000 NFL Draft as a lightly heralded prospect, and waited. He waited, wondering if his two-years experience as an intern at Merrill Lynch would be enough to help him.