NFL star Tom Brady has had nothing short of a record-setting career — he has led the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl wins, has been in 14 Pro Bowls and has four Super Bowl MVP awards, to name a few accolades.
But he doesn't want to be called the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) or brag about his success: "I'd rather you insult me or something like that," Brady said on Wednesday's episode of E!'s "In the Room."
In February, Brady told ABC's Michael Strahan that he doesn't take compliments well.
"I don't even like [being called the GOAT]. It makes me cringe," he said to Strahan. "I guess I take compliments worse than I take [criticism]."
"I wish you would say, 'You're trash. You're too old. You're too slow. You can't get it done no more.' And I would say, 'Thank you very much. I'm going to prove you wrong,'" he said.
Brady said he's driven criticism largely because he struggled early in his career.
At 23, Brady was the sixth-round draft pick for the New England Patriots. He was tall and lanky and relatively slow — while most starting quarterbacks can run a 40-yard dash in under 5 seconds, Brady's time was 5.28 seconds.
"I was a late bloomer," Brady said to Strahan. "I struggled in college. I struggled at the early part of my career, like I was never the first guy chosen. So I think that part is just in me, it's deep, and it's there. It's not going anywhere."
Brady says that journey keeps him grounded and laid the foundation for his success.
"The foundation of where I was, who I am, where I started... where I'm at now is a reflection of so many things and situations and occurrences that had to happen."
Brady also doesn't like to celebrate regular season wins. Even when the Patriots win, Brady mostly sees what they could have done better.
"I have a job to do," Brady said on a recent "The Greg Hill Show."
"I want us to do as best we possibly can each week...," he said. "Everybody puts a lot into it and you want to see a great performance. When it's less than that I don't know what I should feel other than what is authentic to me and what is authentic to my own personal feelings and beliefs about how we should be performing and what we need to do in order to do better."
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