Tom Brady is considered by many to be the gold standard for a quarterback. Beyond championships and individual awards, the reason many consider Brady the GOAT of the NFL is his winning mentality, as demonstrated in a conversation with Drake Maye, whom many consider his spiritual heir.
Talking about Brady’s story is like summarizing the history of the NFL between 2000 and 2021: seven championships, three regular-season MVPs, five Super Bowl MVPs, and countless other accolades.
Maye, meanwhile, is the rising star who led the New England Patriots to their first playoffs in four years and their first Super Bowl in seven. It was Brady who last led them to the championship game.
Now that Maye is on the cusp of his first Super Bowl, a video of one of his first conversations with Brady has surfaced. The footage shows the young signal-caller asking Brady for advice that he seems to be following to the letter.
Brady’s advice for Maye
In the video that ESPN Mexico just posted on X (formerly Twitter), Maye can be seen asking Brady how to maintain a winning mentality after a loss.
Brady’s initial response is forceful: “I never look back.”
The former Patriots quarterback recalled that after winning a Super Bowl, players often think that everything will be fine the following year, “As if I’m going to take off my helmet and everyone is going to bow down to me.”
On the contrary, the seven-time Super Bowl champion emphasized, “If I wanted to win in 2017, 2016 had nothing to do with 2017. If I wanted to win next Sunday, the previous Sunday didn’t matter.”
At the meeting, which included other young players, Brady reminded them that they could win their Week 1 game, but if they didn’t maintain their preparation and intensify their play, “they’re going to get their butts kicked in Week 2.”
Maye has learned from both his wins and losses, just like Brady
The current minority owner of the Raiders reminded Maye that “you can’t just learn from your losses, you know you also have to learn from your wins.”
Apparently, the young Patriots star took the lesson to heart. After finishing the regular season with a 14-3 record, he led the team to victory over the Houston Texans in the divisional round.
Now it remains to be seen if he actually learned from that victory, since this Sunday he will face the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game, and Brady will surely be closely following the performance of his successor.
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