Tom Brady played in 335 regular-season games and 48 playoff games throughout his 23-year NFL career. With each matchup came playcall sheets, scouting reports and lots of research on each opponent.
From 2001 to 2022, that accumulates to a lot of paper on NFL teams, and Brady has kept it all.
Tom Brady still has every playcall sheet and scouting report used throughout his entire career 😳 (via @TomBrady) pic.twitter.com/F6E4qvuR1m
— NFL (@NFL) September 2, 2024
"I basically kept every call sheet, scouting report from every game that I played by season, in real time," the seven-time Super Bowl champion said.
Brady selected one binder as an example, and was not random with his choice. He chose the Patriots away game against the Browns, which was his first game back after a four-game suspension by the league for his role in the Deflategate controversy. Brady went 28 of 40 for 406 yards and three touchdowns in the win.
The GOAT is hoping his first game in the booth goes as well as his first game back from the suspension, which both happen to involve the same team.
"You wonder why I picked 2016? My first game back, at Cleveland, which happens to be my first game as a broadcaster," Brady said, discussing the game he's calling between the Browns and Cowboys in Week 1.
Doing a deeper dive into the archives, Brady explains what each binder contains.
"These were notes that I did based on plays I wanted to run. This is our final call sheet. There was about 95," the future Hall of Famer said. "There was the back of the call sheet, so we probably end up having 150 plays."
He noted that long-time offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels would asterisk plays and that Bill Belichick never wanted a high play count, while pointing out some notes from the head coach.
"It's just good to keep track of all the information rather than throw it in a big bin and you don't know where it is," Brady said. "It's all organized really well and I think if I want to refer back to players or scheme or defensive coordinators, you know, it's all here."
Brady won't be able to translate everything he did as a player into what he can do as a broadcaster, but taking thorough notes and keeping it all organized is one way that will carry over.
"I'll do the same thing as a broadcaster. I'm going to store information going into the season. I'll be involved in football for a long time so," Brady said.
When someone off camera suggested that one day there will be notes from Brady spanning from 2001 to 2040, the quarterback lit up, yelling "That'd be sick."
