The GOAT has weighed in.
Though many of Tom Brady’s detractors like to try to expunge any tie he has from his alma mater, Brady is openly and unabashedly a Wolverine. It makes headlines every year when Michigan football plays rivals MSU and Ohio State and Brady makes bets with his teammates who went to said rival schools.
So, naturally, when the maize and blue, finally, not only beat the Buckeyes, but dominated them, Brady was excited about his alma mater getting the 42-27 win on Saturday. On his SiriusXM podcast “Let’s Go!” Brady had Jim Harbaugh on as a guest in an episode aptly named “Hail, Hail to Michigan,” and waxed ecstatic about the victory.
“The Wolverines are back,” Brady said. “And I said earlier it was one of the great days in college football I can ever remember, just watching. You know, it was a perfect Ann Arbor day, the snow was falling down, the field was … Big Johnny, our old equipment coach, used to say, ‘Rain, blood (expletive deleted) or mud, boys, we’re getting out there, and we’re playing Michigan football.’ And that was a good old Michigan (expletive deleted)-kicking. It was so fun for us to be watching and so happy for the seniors, so happy for coach Harbaugh, what he’s done to the program. It gave us all a lot of joy on the weekend so thanks a lot, Coach.”
Of course, Harbaugh feels the same, saying it will be a game that he will never forget.
“It was a glorious weekend!” Harbaugh said. “Bo Schembechler, my coach, used to say it’s everybody’s duty, for everybody in the state of Michigan, to beat Ohio State. And to have accomplished that, our players, you know, they were channeling old No. 10, Tom Brady, no question about it. It’s something that I know I’m going to remember until they throw dirt over top of me.”
Beyond that, Harbaugh said he heard from Brady after the game, along with a lot of other former players who likened the win to the 1969 game that spawned the 10-year war.
Brady agrees, and hearkened back to his experience of playing against the Buckeyes in the Jon Cooper era. The GOAT was 4-1 in his Michigan tenure in The Game.
“To get a text from Tom Brady after the game; I got a text from John Madden talking about how much he loves the offensive line,” Harbaugh said. “He thought our offensive played as well as any offensive line. And also — in the mail now, I’m getting hundreds of letters. Some are e-mails, some are texts, but physically going through hundreds of letters and the guys that played back in the ‘60s comparing that game in 2021 to the 1969 game. And for any of us kids who grew up in the ‘70s, or played in the ‘80s, or even the ‘90s and the 2000s, around here the ‘69 game is referred to as a seminal win. Tectonic plates shifted. To have them compare the 2021 game to that 1969, it leaves me without words.”
“I think about that game, too, coach, and I was fortunate to be a part of that rivalry and five games I played against them,” Brady said. “We won the first three which were all great wins. And then I lost one the first year I started at The Horseshoe. We got beat by a really good team that day at Ohio State. Then I won as a senior at home in The Big House. I feel so great for those seniors because you go out with that victory.”
So, how did Brady watch the game? With a game looming against Indianapolis in the NFL, he said he watched it at home (or a hotel, he doesn’t clarify), with his son. In what might be music to Michigan’s fans’ ears, he intends on grooming his son to become a future starting quarterback for the Wolverines — though his wife, Gisele, isn’t so sure.
“I had a little future Wolverine, my son Jack, sitting on the bed with me as I was jumping around,” Brady recalled. “We were wrestling on the bed. And I said, ‘That’s where you’re gonna be! You’re gonna be in The Big House someday, you’re gonna be the starting quarterback for Michigan!’ And my wife says, ‘Just let him be what he wants to be for God’s sakes!’ It was a great day for our family!”
Brady went on to share more about his experience in Ann Arbor and how it shaped him into the best quarterback the NFL has ever seen. He says it wouldn’t have been possible if he hadn’t had those life-changing competitions at Schembechler Hall.
The win on Saturday brought back those memories, and he’s hoping that the wins can continue in Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship Game and beyond.
“So much resolve, like you said,” Brady said. “When you’re a college football player, to make it five years at a program like Michigan, or four years, shows tremendous competition. I chose Michigan because I felt it was a long way from home and I needed to grow up and I needed to leave the comfy confines of my California roots, the comfortability of having my parents close. I went to a school that challenged me in every way. It was the biggest stage, and I went to The Big House on my visit and I saw my name up there on the screen when I walked in there for the first time and I knew where I wanted to go to school because I wanted to be a grow up and be a man.
“The saying was, and still is today, ‘those who stay will be champions.’ And I became a champion at Michigan. I learned how to be a champion at Michigan. I learned how to win and compete on State Street before I ever stepped into the The Big House. If I wanted to be the best, I had to beat the best. And I competed against some of the best quarterbacks at that school. Brian Griese led our team to a national championship. I learned how to compete by competing against him. And there was a lot of great players that I played with. I have so many great memories that taught me so much. When I look at that team on Saturday, I thought, ‘That’s what this program is all about.’ It’s getting great players that are committed to the team and then playing the best in your biggest moments. I really am excited about your game this weekend.”
Host Jim Gray asked Brady what means more: beating Ohio State or winning a national championship. As someone who technically had done both in Ann Arbor, he said it was a tough call, but noted his Wolverines teams didn’t prepare all year to win the national championship — they only had Ohio State on the mind.
“Beating Ohio State is what it was all about,” Brady said. “Every workout we had in the summer and in the winter was about beating one team. Beating Ohio State is what it’s all about. There’s a great state rivalry with Michigan State. Yeah, we love beating Notre Dame. Notre Dame didn’t mean that much to me when I was there. We always felt like we were gonna kick their butts! Ohio State was the one that it was all about. Happy that we were able to do it this last Saturday. I was very fortunate to be a part of some great games there and the best memories of my life was being in that game. Happy to be a part of it.”
Still, Brady is the ultimate sportsman. He says when he saw how sad the Ohio State players felt after the game, he felt bad for them. But he also says that’s part of the rivalry, it’s not real hate, it’s mutual respect. You hate the colors and what the other team stands for.
“We stand for one thing and they stand for another,” Brady said. “It’s as good as it gets. It’s amazing, it’s just good to watch.”
