"He's the secret for me" - Tom Brady reveals surprising name pivotal for his success, shockingly leaves out Gisele Bundchen

Tom Brady has had an incredibly long career, much longer than most NFL players do. He's also played at an extremely high level for far longer than most athletes do. His health has been extremely well-kept, too.

He recently offered up a name that has been pivotal to helping him play so well for so long. Appearing on the on the Let's Go! podcast with Larry Fitzgerald, Tom Brady and Jim Gray, he left many people surprised. Many might have thought he'd credit Gisele Bundchen at a time when their marriage is reportedly on the rocks, but he credited someone else.

Brady said that Alex Guerrero, an alternative medicine practitioner, has been paramount in his career:

"Definitely. I tell him that all the time. I mean, he's, he's the secret for me. It's a one man show. And you know, football is such a contact sport. It's, you know, it's one thing to prepare for the season and so forth. But so much of the sport involves recovery."

Tampa Bay Buccaneers v Dallas Cowboys

Recovery is important in football, which is why most games occur one week after the last one. For Brady, Guerrero has been key to recovery:

"If football is a demolition derby, how quickly can you repair your body to be prepared for next week? And you know, I've had a lot of bumps and bruises over the year, a lot of sprains, a lot of tears, a lot of breaks. And, you know, just been fortunate to have him by my side, this whole journey in helping me over the course of the week, feel my best so that I can go out there and be available for my team. He's truly truly amazing."

Guerrero has worked with a lot of New England Patriots players over the years, including Jacoby Brissett, Jimmy Garoppolo, Rob Gronkowski and Ty Law.

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How much time has Tom Brady missed due to injury?

Thanks in no small part to the recovery he credits Guerrero with, Brady has been able to largely avoid injury. He's been on the injury report a few times over the course of his career, and has not missed time for most of them.

In 2008, he tore his ACL and MCL in Week 1 and missed the rest of the season. That's the entirety of the missed games from his entire 23-year career. It's been truly remarkable.

Hopefully, he can maintain his incredible injury record until he does finally retire.

If you use any of the above quotes, please credit the Let's Go! podcast and H/T Sportskeeda.