Tom Brady reviewed the biggest hits he took in his NFL career

Morning Sports Update

“This is why I didn’t run much, ladies and gentlemen.”

By Hayden Bird

February 4, 2025 | 11:18 AM

4 minutes to read

Tom Brady took a stroll down (a particularly brutal) memory lane: Over the course of his 23-season career, Tom Brady took his share of big hits from opposing defenses. And despite the debatable notion that Brady was himself a cause for rule changes in the NFL to protect quarterbacks, the now-retired QB recently broke down some film on some of the biggest hits he took over the years.

Brady offered some nonchalant commentary as he chronicled a few of the forceful sacks he endured. Assessing one hit from the famous “Snow Game” against the Raiders in the playoffs in 2002, he claimed “I’m landing on five inches of snow, so how bad could it be?”

Still, there were some exceptions where even Brady acknowledged feeling pain.

“After this game, I was sore for two weeks,” Brady said of former Broncos defensive end Elvis Dumervil’s blast in the AFC Championship in 2016.

However he felt, Brady maintained that he tried to adhere to a simple rule: Always get up before the defensive lineman who had just sacked him.

“I wanted to make sure that I got up and let that D-lineman know that, ‘Alright, I’m still here.’”

Among other points he made, Brady took a harsh view of some current players who end up in the blue medical tent, only to reappear unharmed moments later.

“I guess it bothers me when they go in the blue tent and come out like, ‘I’m fine.’ I’m like if you were fine within three seconds, you could’ve got up and walked off the field, which to me shows a defeat mentality.”

Among the plethora of plays in the video Brady watched, a few hits came at the end of the rare scramble from the notoriously slow Patriots quarterback.

“This was brutal,” Brady explained of one sequence when he was hit hard after running. “This is why I didn’t run much, ladies and gentlemen.”

Eventually, Brady refuted the notion that rules were created to protect him.

“Everyone always thought like, ‘Oh they changed the rules for you, and you were the beneficiary.’ And I’m like what the f*** planet are you living on? I got hammered.”

Brady concluded that “all of these [hits] ultimately are clean, and that’s the way football should be played.”

Trivia: According to Pro Football Reference, there are three players tied for recording the most sacks against Brady and the Patriots from 2001-2019 with 12 each. One is former Bills defensive end Aaron Schobel. Can you name the other two?

Hint: One was a linebacker/EDGE, the other a more traditional defensive end. They were both members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-Decade Team from the 2000s. One played for the Dolphins, Jets and Commanders during his Hall of Fame career. The other played for the Steelers, Dolphins, and Cardinals and was a four-time Pro Bowler.

Scores and schedules:

Boston College and Boston University advanced to the final of the men’s Beanpot on Monday night with wins over Northeastern and Harvard.

Tonight, the Bruins host the Wild at 7 p.m.

Also tonight, the Celtics are on the road to play the Cavaliers at 7:30 p.m.

More from Boston.com:

In case you missed it: Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida was part of a special event over the weekend. To celebrate the historical moment of Maine native Horace Wilson bringing baseball to Japan in 1870, Yoshida attended a ceremony at the Gorham farmhouse where Wilson was born. He met with some of Wilson’s descendants.

“It was lovely. I mean, Mr. Yoshida was a wonderful, eloquent, humble guy. It was great to meet him. My baseball-loving relatives would be so happy to think that he was here, and that maybe part of his presence here had to do with one of our ancestors,” said Abagail Sanborn, Wilson’s great-great-niece.

“It’s definitely a legacy and a lot of the former players have passed on to me,” Yoshida said via interpreter of the impact of baseball on Japan.

Some NFL news with a local connection: Spencer Whipple, the son of longtime UMass football coach Mark Whipple, is reportedly being hired by the Cardinals to be the team’s new quarterbacks coach.

On this day: In 2001, the Celtics continued a run of good form following Rick Pitino’s exit from the team. Boston improved to 9-4 under then-interim head coach Jim O’Brien with a 103-82 win over the Cavaliers.

Antoine Walker led the Celtics with 36 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists.

Daily highlight: Boston University’s Shane Lachance pulled off a between-the-legs goal in the 7-1 Beanpot semifinal win over Harvard on Monday night.