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Tom Brady Once Tried Chewing Tobacco ... And Promptly Vomited Everywhere

By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (CBS) -- Prior to last week, not many people knew that Tom Brady had a connection to Minnesota. Since the world discovered that Brady's mother hails from the small town of Browerville, which sits about two hours northwest of Minneapolis.

There, Brady made summer trips to visit his mother's side of the family, where he'd milk cows, go fishing, and live the farm life that kids from the Bay Area might not typically experience.

And on Tuesday, Brady shared a story of a time when he did something that would never fit within the TB12 nutrition plan. Brady saw his family chewing tobacco, and the young Brady decided he wanted to try some too.

"We went fishing, and on the way home I said I want to try it. And they said, 'Look, if we give it to you, then you can't spit it out until you get home.' And it was like a 30-minute ride back my grandpa's farm. So of course they give it to me, and within five minutes, I'm outside the car throwing up all over the place."

Brady, now on the straight and narrow when it comes to putting toxins into his body, added, "I don't think I've had too much chewing tobacco since then."

Among the things he never puts into his body these days, tobacco wasn't the only thing Brady tried in his younger days. Though he didn't call out any specific food products by name, Brady joked Tuesday that he now understands why he didn't enter the NFL as the world's most fit athlete.

"I eat pretty well, and I think my kids do too. We're very fortunate to be able to do that. It was different when I was growing up," Brady said. "My parents were doing the best that they could do, but when I think about the things that I ate when I was little, I can understand why I was a late bloomer. Because it was ... oh, man. Some of the stuff, it was terrible. Everything. It was just not what I would do today."

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