How A Young Tom Brady Once Tricked His Teammates Into Thinking He Was Out-Drinking Them
BOSTON (CBS) -- If you thought Tom Brady was great at running play fakes on the field, wait until you hear the trickeration he once used in the bar.
In a new book penned by The Athletic's Jeff Howe and 98.5 The Sports Hub's Scott Zolak called If These Walls Could Talk: Stories from the New England Patriots Sideline, Locker Room, and Press Box, there's an anecdote about the quarterback not being up for a night of drinking with his teammates. The team was out celebrating New England's stunning Super Bowl XXXVI win over the St. Louis Rams with a post-season dinner, one that would included plenty of adult beverages as well. Pricey ones.
According to Howe, the Patriots hit up Abe & Louie's for their annual rookie party, when high-paid rooks pick up the tab for everyone else. The drinks started to flow, including $375 shots of Hennessy Timeless.
Brady still enjoyed a libation or two back then (he had no method to follow as a rookie), but liquor wasn't his preference. Realizing he was in for a long night of shots, the quarterback devised a plan where he wouldn't have to drink, and his teammates wouldn't know he was sitting out the fun.
From a blurb posted on The Athletic (requires subscription):
Brady recognized where the night was heading and got out in front of it. My father, Joe Howe, was the bar manager at Abe & Louie's for years, and he worked the bar for that party. Brady pulled my father aside with a special request: When they order me a shot, please just give me a water. I'll pay for the shot if I have to. I just can't drink that stuff all night.
So as the team was getting legless by the end of the night, Brady was the most sober guy in the room, and no one had any idea that he was drinking water. Linebacker Willie McGinest, who always treated my father great, saddled up on a barstool, had his head in his hands and lamented as he looked at a completely coherent Brady: Joe, who is this guy? First, he takes over for Drew Bledsoe. Then, he wins us a Super Bowl. Now, he can outdrink all of us? What can't this guy do?
Maybe that night was when the gears began to turn on Brady's TB12 Method. He reportedly drinks 37 glasses of water per day, and a night of taking water shots could have been the spring board.
One thing is certain: Brady wasn't hung over the next day like the majority of his teammates.
