Tom Brady had been determined to become a professional football player since his childhood days idolizing quarterback Joe Montana. After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1999, he dreamed of playing in the NFL, but Brady has said he "struggled" in college and was "never the first guy chosen" as a young athlete.
Perhaps that is why a then 22-year-old Brady put together a resume listing his summer internships at Merrill Lynch and odd jobs he had in school. You never know when you'll need a backup plan.
"Found my old resume! Really thought I was going to need this after the 5th round," Brady posted on Facebook in 2014, referring to the fact that the New England Patriots did not choose him until their sixth-round pick in the 2000 NFL draft. (Brady was the 199th overall pick that year.)
Brady's old resume lists that he was a summer intern assisting a senior sales broker in 1998 and 1999 at Merrill Lynch in Ann Arbor, Michigan. There he was exposed to "upper-level management and company strategy," researched stock and mutual fund reports, updated client portfolios and gained knowledge of broker activity and day-to-day administrative duties, he wrote.
Brady's boss at Merrill Lynch, Oliver Owens, said Brady stood out as intern. "He worked hard," Owens told Fox News in 2017. "You know, he never complained. He was always on time. He never left early. You know, just had a great attitude."
While interning at Lynch, Brady also worked as a sales representative at two golf courses (one at a country club in Jackson, Michigan, and the other at the University of Michigan), according to the resume. The experience helped Brady develop interpersonal skills and "exemplified flexibility," he wrote.
Brady listed other odd jobs, including working as a park service manager at Ann Arbor Summer Festival in 1996, where he supervised park security, receiving "hands-on experience in customer contact areas," he wrote, as well as handling inventory.
As for school, Brady took business and psychology courses and received a Bachelor's degree in General Studies, finishing with 3.3 GPA.
Of course, Brady never needed to apply for a day job.
Now 44, Brady has announced his retirement from football after playing 22 seasons with the NFL, winning seven Super Bowls with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He is widely regarded as the GOAT (or, greatest of all time) when it comes to quarterbacks, though it's a title that Brady said actually makes him "cringe."
Update: This story has been updated to reflect Tom Brady's retirement announcement on Feb. 1, 2022.
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