Tom Brady not only played through an un-diagnosed concussion last season, but has done so on multiple occasions. Such is the bombshell dropped by his wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen in an interview with CBS This Morning Wednesday.
“He (Brady) had a concussion last year,” Bundchen said. “He has concussions pretty much every… (and then Bundchen cut herself off, apparently realizing she’d stepped in something.)”
“I mean, we don’t talk about it,” she continued. “But he does have concussions. I don’t really think it’s a healthy thing for anybody to go through.”
#NEW: @giseleofficial told @CharlieRose on @CBSThisMorning that Tom Brady had a concussion last year. "He does have concussions." pic.twitter.com/K4B8ixDN9X
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) May 17, 2017
Obviously this is a big deal for a multitude of reasons, most importantly for Brady’s long term cognitive health. I might wish he would lose every football game he plays, but I don’t want his brain to melt out of his ears for God’s sake. My favorite Tom Brady is the angry, losing one. Not an addled, injured one.
If Brady has figured out a way to “beat the test,” then it makes the sport about 100 times more dangerous for him to play. The concussion rules aren’t fun for any of us, fan, pundit or player, but they exist for a reason. This is way beyond DeflateGate and all that bullshit. Brady, if this is true, really put himself at risk last season and, according to Bundchen before she stopped herself, this wasn’t the first time he did it.
The other possibility, and this is where it gets bad for the New England Patriots, is that the team helped him hide his concussion. If that’s the case, some people are about to be in a shitload of trouble.
“There are no records that indicate that Mr. Brady suffered a head injury or concussion, or exhibited or complained of concussion symptoms,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said. “Today we have been in contact with the NFLPA and will work together to gather more information from the club’s medical staff and Mr. Brady.”
From @NFL, which reviewed all Tom Brady reports: “There are no records that indicate that Mr. Brady suffered a head injury or concussion…”
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 17, 2017
In this case, I’m willing to give the Patriots the benefit of the doubt. They went 3-1 without Brady when he was on his DeflateGate suspension to start the season and would have had no issues playing Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback for a game or two while Brady got his wits back.
According to Chris Nowinski, one of the founders of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, un-diagnosed concussions are anything but rare.
“I’m most surprised that people think it’s really news that an NFL player had a concussion but it wasn’t diagnosed and it wasn’t reported,” Nowinkski said. “But it is a great opportunity to educate people that it’s very dangerous to play through a concussion. And if you have an opportunity to get off the field and get it taken care of, you need to take it.”
Tom Brady's looking at Gisele like pic.twitter.com/fiNMxkfbRl
— Jesse Peel-SportsRuckus 🏈🏀 (@JPSportsRuckus) May 17, 2017
Bundchen isn’t a doctor and is almost assuredly basing her conclusions on her knowledge of Brady’s usual behavior if nothing else last season. Of all the things that piss me off about Brady, Bundchen has never been one of them. She seems like a cool wife. I even like that she complains and blames other players when the Patriots lose. She’s on Team Tom and that’s what you want in a spouse. This was just her talking about her concerns with her husband.
“That kind of aggression all the time, that cannot be healthy for you,” Bundchen said in the interview. “I’m planning on him being healthy and do a lot of fun things when we’re like 100, I hope.”
See? She’s sweet.
https://twitter.com/NoChiIlSports/status/864946410487255046
That probably won’t slow down any NFL investigation, but this time they’re going to come up empty. While Brady feels like he wants to play into his mid 40s, it wouldn’t shock me if this was his last season playing football. Quarterbacks seem to deteriorate all at once if they stay in the game too long. Peyton Manning and Brett Favre just fell off a cliff. Brady has already defied the odds, but that train is coming.
And if this does turn out to be his final season, at least he got a sweet Madden 18 cover out of it.
For the first time ever, cheat codes will be included. #madden18 pic.twitter.com/YmXz8d1w4e
— Juanizzle (@Its_juanizzle) May 12, 2017
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