Brian Hoyer remembers Tom Brady winning a drinking contest back in 2010

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady doesn’t indulge himself with alcohol if he can help it because he keeps himself on a strict diet. Before Brady was known for his diet, he was a drinking machine. He might still be, I won’t take that away from him.

But new/old back-up quarterback Brian Hoyer remembers a story of Brady drinking back in 2010 when the Patriots had a weather delay in Buffalo and couldn’t return to Boston.

"We played up at Buffalo and we couldn't fly back into Boston because the weather was so bad, so we had to stay the night in Rochester,” Hoyer told ESPN. “We drove there, and we all decided we'd go out to dinner together. Tom being who he was, he usually couldn't come to a team event like that. We might be at Capital Grille and he is sneaking in the back door and then people realize he's there and he has to leave.

“But this was impromptu at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Rochester. The whole team is there. And it turns into a beer-chugging contest. You have linemen, Julian Edelman, they all think they are going to win. Then someone says, 'I heard Tom is really great at chugging a beer.' We don't usually get to experience him like this, but we finally coax him into doing it.

“He does it, and let me tell you, you couldn't have poured out the beer faster into a glass. It was unbelievable. And he slams the mug on the table and puts both fists in the air. He walks away with a look on his face that said, 'You really thought you were going to beat me on this?' The place went nuts."

While it’s unknown if Brady will still participate in drinking contests, perhaps barbecue is the secret to getting Brady uncorked because Ross Tucker wrote a very similar story for Sports On Earth. Tucker was Brady’s teammate from 2005-06.

“We went to a local barbecue place near the stadium in Foxboro after practice one time, and there were two different occasions where Brady's eyes displayed his trademark fire,” Tucker shared. “The first was when some of the veteran offensive linemen started talking to the rookies about a chugging contest. No big deal for these guys and given that they were fresh out of college, you would think they'd be at the top of their game. I was surprised to see Brady take part. The rookies looked at the seemingly pretty boy quarterback and laughed. I think I snickered myself.

“We all should've known better.

“I still have never seen anybody chug a beer faster than Tom Brady. You should've seen the way he slammed down his cup -- it was like he was spiking the ball after a TD. It was hilarious. It was awesome. It was textbook Brady.”

Maybe the root of Brady’s entire diet is staying away from food associated with barbecue. Maybe the Patriots had to trade away Vince Wilfork because the barbecue was too tantalizing and distracting for Brady.

I just hope we get to see Brady’s beer-chugging skills after he retires.