Las Vegas Raiders owner Tom Brady didn’t hand rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza anything on FOX Business Wednesday, and he wasn’t about to start.
Asked about the Raiders’ rookie quarterback on “The Claman Countdown,” Brady’s answer was warm but unmistakably firm. He likes Mendoza. That much was clear. But liking a guy and crowning him are two different things.
“He’s got to go out there and earn it like everybody else,” Brady told host Liz Claman, adding that no rookie, Mendoza included, has taken a meaningful NFL snap yet. It wasn’t a shot at the kid. It was just true.
That’s been Brady’s line since he showed up as a sixth-round afterthought in New England. He then spent two decades proving people wrong. Talent gets you drafted but it doesn’t get you trusted. What does, in Brady’s world, is showing up and absorbing hits you didn’t see coming. It also helps being the kind of teammate other players want to play with.
“Their career and their journey will be determined by the work that they put in, by the adversities that they overcome,” Brady said.
Tom Brady was brutally honest with regard to his rookie QB…
He’s carrying that same logic into his newest job, one that has nothing to do with football. Brady recently signed on as chief wellness officer at eMed, a digital health company, hoping to bring some version of his own health regimen to people who’ll never suit up for an NFL team.
“My body truly was my asset as a football player,” he said, reflecting on the habits that kept him playing into his 40s. Now he wants regular people chasing something simpler: energy to keep up with their kids or their grandkids.
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He also spoke favorably about GLP-1 drugs, calling them a legitimate tool for getting people started on healthier paths, provided the follow-through is there as well.
Ultimately, different arenas, the same playbook. Whether it’s a rookie chasing a starting job or someone trying to get healthier, Brady consistently comes back to the same handful of ideas: discipline, accountability, and showing up for the people around you. In the end, he believes lasting success depends less on where you start and more on the habits you build along the way.
For Mendoza, that’s not exactly bad news. No, it’s just the standard. And it’s one Brady clearly believes he can meet.
*Top Photo: Ramble Illustration/Getty Images