When Tom Brady takes a moment to spotlight another athlete, it’s worth paying attention. And he didn’t hold back when discussing Shohei Ohtani‘s historic performance in Game 4 of the 2025 NLCS.
“I think what he did with 10 strikeouts, three home runs – one of those balls going out of the stadium – and then leading his team the way he has coming back from that elbow injury and performing the way he did is just absolutely incredible,” Brady said of the Los Angeles Dodgers star.
For Brady, the feat crossed mere baseball boundaries. He likened it to the kind of all-time game you might see in the NFL – and he put one of his fiercest rivals in the spotlight: Peyton Manning.
“I knew Peyton was always a huge rival for our team, so I was rooting against him,” Brady recalled of Manning‘s Week 1 masterclass in 2013. “But that performance was unreal. He just couldn’t miss.”
With Ohtani now established as a transcendent two-way talent in both pitching and hitting, Brady‘s comparison signals that what occurred on the diamond has resonance far beyond the bases.
The comparison that raises the bar
What Brady highlights is the dual-threat brilliance of Ohtani: not just a hitter, not just a pitcher, but a generational all-around talent.
He sees a parallel with the NFL‘s moments where one player transcends his role and dominates every phase of the game.
Brady‘s personal connection to Manning adds weight here. Their rivalry defined an era – and when Manning exploded for seven touchdown passes in the 2013 opener, Brady recognized greatness in real time.
By likening Ohtani‘s output to Manning‘s, Brady is effectively placing Ohtani in the realm of the impossible.
That’s a bold framing. Teams across Major League Baseball have rarely produced a player who cleanly dominated with both arm and bat like this.
Ohtani‘s performance – three home runs, 10 strikeouts in six shutout innings, a full display of dominance – fits the kind of sporting singularity Brady is speaking of.
In his “Storytime” series, Brady didn’t just stop at one game. He referenced a slew of historic individual performances across football – from Joe Montana to Adrian Peterson – all in service of placing Ohtani‘s night in sporting context.
That kind of reflection shows how rare these moments are. If a celebrated quarterback views a baseball star through his own competitive lens, it says something.
Brady‘s astonishment also centers on Ohtani‘s return from injury – a storyline too good to ignore. Leading a team, performing at the highest level again, and doing it in historic fashion? That’s something Brady knows about intimately.
The highest cross-sport compliment
For the Dodgers and Ohtani himself, the comparison matters. It sets both expectation and opportunity.
If one of football’s greatest of all time sees your game in similar poetic terms to his greatest rival’s outing, you’re entering elite company.
It also sends a message to the broader sports landscape. The notion of two-way stardom in modern sport is increasingly rare. Fans of baseball, football, or any sport recognize that when legends in one domain nod to greatness in another, the moment becomes timeless.
For Ohtani, this is more than a pat on the back. It’s the kind of acknowledgment that cements legacy. Brady’s recognition of a performance worthy of comparison not just to his own feats, but to those of Manning.
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