After 23 seasons in the NFL, seven-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Tom Brady took a number of hits across his career.
Eventually, like a sommelier may have a favorite vintage or vineyard, Brady developed a way of knowing who would deliver the toughest hits.
Speaking on Logan Paul’s ‘Impaulsive’ podcast, the former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers signal caller revealed the players he hated to see the most lining up across from him.
Familiarity certainly played a role – with a number of AFC pᴀss rushers on the list – as well as one of the most fearsome defensive tackles of the 2010s.
‘Ray Lewis was at the top,’ Brady said. ‘Ndamukong Suh, I didn’t like getting hit by him. J.J. [Watt] wasn’t very fun to get hit by.
‘Haloti Ngata, you remember him? He was about 340 pounds for the Ravens. He was mᴀssive.’
Tom Brady recently revealed the four NFL stars he feared taking hits from the most
Ravens stars Haloti Ngata and Ray Lewis terrified the Patriots pᴀsser for over a decade
Three-time Defensive Player of the Year JJ Watt (99) also had his share of sacks
Finally, future Buccaneers teammate Ndamukong Suh found his way into Brady’s backfield
All four of the players that Brady named were crucial figures in the NFL – all of whom have a legitimate chance of having a bronze bust in Canton, Ohio someday.
Lewis and Ngata were two stalwarts on a Baltimore Ravens defense that terrified the NFL for years. Lewis already has a statue in Canton, having been voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018. Ngata is a five-time All-Pro, five-time Pro-Bowler, and Super Bowl champion.
Watt may have the best chance of joining Lewis in Canton in the years to come. He won three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards, the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, seven All-Pro selections, and five Pro-Bowl selections.
Then there’s Suh, who won Super Bowl LV with Brady and the Buccaneers in 2020. He earned five All-Pro nods and five Pro-Bowls as well as the Defensive Rookie of the Year award in 2010.
Most notably missing from the list is any of the safeties that terrified Brady year-in and year-out like Ed Reed. Also absent is Bernard Pollard, the safety whose low hit on Brady tore the quarterback’s ACL in the 2008 season opener – forcing the quarterback to miss his only full-season in his career.
Brady became well known for his dedication to winning – including a strict regimen of diet and exercise centered around recovery from tackles. This allowed his longevity to be at an all-time high.
‘When you’re getting hit, there’s a discipline with your physical body that you need to take into account,’ Brady said. ‘Because if you f*** around, you’re gonna get hurt. … You don’t mess around with your training, because you will pay the price when you got Aaron Donald chasing you.’
