Here’s a fun Tom Brady story in honor of his 39th birthday

Here’s the situation: you’re Tom Brady in the year 2000.  The picks are flying off the board in the 2000 NFL Draft, and by the time the sixth round rolls around, six quarterbacks are off the board already.  Brady’s combine workouts looked more like a guy from your local YMCA than an NFL quarterback prospect, and, to put the whole sixth-round thing in perspective, there were kickers AND a punter that got picked before Brady.  The fullback from Michigan got drafted before Tom Brady did.

KICKERS and a PUNTER!

(Sure, one of those kickers was Sebastian Janikowski, and yes, punters are people too, but good grief.)

Fast forward to the first time Tom Brady sets foot in Foxboro Stadium (remember, Gillette Stadium wasn’t built yet), and that’s where this story from Robert Kraft comes in.

Here’s Kraft’s recollection of the first conversation he ever had with Tom Brady:

"I still have the image of Tom Brady coming down the old Foxboro stadium steps with that pizza box under his arm, a skinny beanpole, and when he introduced himself to me and said "Hi Mr. Kraft", he was about to say who he was, but I said "I know who you are, you’re Tom Brady. You’re our sixth round draft choice."  And he looked me in the eye and said "I’m the best decision this organization has ever made."  It looks like he could be right."

Not only is your sixth-round draft pick, who’s the fourth-string quarterback on a team that was about to hand a $103 million extension to number one overall pick Drew Bledsoe, the guy that didn’t even start consistently on his own college team, telling you that he’s going to be the best decision the team would ever make…

…Brady did it WHILE HOLDING A PIZZA BOX.

When you’re right, you’re right.  Happy birthday, Tom Brady!