"I don't have to be an insurance salesman": The time Tom Brady teared up when Patriots picked him after drop to 6th round

Tom Brady’s rise to the top in the NFL is one of the fabled stories of NFL lore. Brady - an unknown quarterback from Michigan - was scouted as the 199th pick in the sixth round of the NFL draft in 2000.

But none of this would have happened without Belichick’s gut feeling to trust the 6-foot-4 star from San Mateo, California. TB12 might have ended up as an insurance salesman, as he told Steve Sabol in 2002. Upon the completion of Brady’s iconic draft in 2000, the NFL shared a clip of the Sabol interview of Tom Brady on their X (formerly Twitter) account as a throwback to his draft.

“It was just a tough day, you know," Brady said. "I just remember being there with my mom and dad and you know they were just so supportive of me and they take it as emotional as I do and you know, finally when the Patriots called I was so excited, you know, I was like, I don’t have to be an insurance salesman.”

Interestingly, Tom Brady Sr. continued working as an insurance salesman for 43 years, so some fans criticised Brady’s choice of words. But in Brady’s defense, the insurance job would have been a fallback not his lifelong dream.

Brady recalled seeing teams pass him each round but his family remained supportive.

“I remember being downstairs for like the fourth round and that came and gone and then the fifth round , you know, was coming and going and all these other guys were getting picked and it was hard. I remember taking a walk with my dad and mom around the block”

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Tom Brady surpasses an embarrassing individual record at age 46

The NFL teams had justifiable reasons not to select Tom Brady, as he had a below-par performance in the combine, recording one of the slowest 40-yard dashes at 5.28 seconds. He also recorded a 24.5-inch vertical jump and a 99-inch broad jump, ranking among the worst in combine history.

Brady made an immediate impact on New England after the draft. He led them to their first Super Bowl in his sophomore year with the Patriots, initiating the dynasty era under coach Bill Belichick. The rest is history.

Years later, Tom Brady also improved his dreadful 40-yard dash record by clocking 5.12 seconds at 46 in February.