We all figured Tom Brady's interview with Howard Stern was going to be wild, but nobody thought it was going to be that wild. Honestly, they really touched on everything you'd want to know about the star QB and even got into some things that you wouldn't really expect. It's not really a surprise that Stern got Brady to open up like nobody has before because, well, Stern is probably one of the best interviewers of all-time. This is what he does. But still, it was pretty wild to hear Brady go in-depth about his marriage, his friendship with Donald Trump, concussions while playing football, and much more.
While we encourage everyone to listen to the interview in full because it's that wild and good, we decided to break out some of the biggest takeaways from the conversation, which you can check out below.
Giselle Wasn't Satisfied With Their Marriage
You rarely hear Tom Brady talk about his personal life in public, but he really, really opened up with Howard Stern. Brady not only got into how he met Giselle, but he revealed that she wasn't satisfied with their marriage because of how much he was focused on football.
"Two years ago, as it related to football for me, I had to make a big transition in my life to say I can’t do all the things that I wanted to do for football like I used to," Brady said. "I had to take care of my family because my family situation wasn’t great. She wasn’t satisfied with our marriage. I had to make a change in that.”
Brady Knew He Was Leaving the Patriots Before 2019 Season
This was probably the least shocking part of the interview, but was still important to hear Brady say it. As Ian Rapoport recently told us on the Load Management podcast, the writing was on the wall for Brady to leave New England, but the fact that he knew it even before the season started sure is something.
"I don’t think there was a final, final decision until it happened, but I would say I probably knew before the start of last season that it was my last year. I knew our time was coming to an end."
Trump Wanted Brady to Speak at the Republican National Convention in 2016
There's been a lot of talk about Brady's friendship with President Donald Trump over the years, especially after a "Make America Great Again" hat was spotted in Brady's locker in 2016. Well, according to Brady, Trump even wanted the QB to speak at the Republican National Convention in 2016, but Brady ultimately declined because he didn't want to do anything political. Brady said that he didn't want to undo his friendship with Trump, but that political support was something different.
“I wasn’t going to support, I didn’t want to get into all the political, because there’s zero-win in regards to any of that. Because it’s politics."
Brady Has Had Multiple Concussions Throughout His Career
Head injuries are still a major talking point in the NFL, because well, they're probably never going to go away. While the league has tried to ramp up the safety of the game, Brady admitted to Stern that he's suffered multiple concussions on the field, with most of them going unreported. Even with the head injuries, Brady said that he's not going to let anyone else tell him when it's time to walk away from the game.
Brady Won't Say If He's Better Than Joe Montana
There ongoing debate in the NFL is always about who is the best QB of all-time. Mostly, it comes down to people picking Brady or Joe Montana. For Brady, he can't say that he's better than Montana, who he grew up idolizing in the Bay Area. "I can’t say that. I would never say that. That’s not how I Think about myself. The only thing I care about is am I the best I can be? I’m the best I can be."
Brady Will Let His Kids Play Football
Another big debate around NFL circles is if players would let their kids play football based on how violent the sport is and the date around head injuries. Even with that, Brady said he's going to have no reservations about his kids playing football in the future.
"I would never want for them to be Tom Brady’s son playing football. I don’t like that at all. But from a team, camaraderie, discipline, I think there’s something about contact sports that teaches you a lot about discipline, respect, mutual respect for your opponent that you don’t get in non-contact sports. Think about it: If your body is taking a physical toll and punishment, you gotta respect your body because that’s your insulation," Brady said. "That’s your asset. You have to have even more respect for your body. … The contact sports are the ones where I think you learn the most discipline. You can’t perform unless you take great care of your body. If you don’t, you’re gonna have a very short career."
Brady's Testicle Swelled Up Like an Orange After a Game
Ugh, yeah, so about those wild football injuries. This one might take the cake. Brady says that during a game in 2006, Brady suffered a sports hernia injury that made one of his balls swell up like an orange.
"I thought when I got hit, something happened,” Brady explained. “It ended up being a hernia in the game, where the abdomen wall split open. I don’t know all the details. But other than that, (my) testicles — literally, one side was like an orange and then the other side was normal. I was like, ‘Something’s wrong here.’"
Brady Smoked Weed in High School
This is the most Tom Brady way of admitting that he used to smoke weed, but during the interview, he says he partied in high school, but always felt like he was letting his dad down. So Brady. "What kept me from smoking a lot of weed — obviously in high school you try that and drink and go to parities — but I always felt like I was letting my dad down,” Tom Brady told Stern. "I definitely had fun in high school with partying and drinking and smoking weed on occasion."
You've Seen One Penis, You've Seen Them All
You had to know that the Brady and Stern interview was going to take a left at some point, so this really shouldn't come as a shock. "You get used to it, Every guy's penis looks the exact same. A man's a man." Profound words from Tom.
