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Nerves are a part of life, and they affect everyone, even Tom Brady. The seven-time Super Bowl champion has seen his fair share of high-pressure situations across his storied career.
A new series called Man in the Arena is centered around each of Brady's Super Bowl wins and the lead-up to the games with the future Hall of Famer. The first episode gives insight into which game gave Brady a bad case of the butterflies.
The AFC Championship match-up against the Steelers was one where Brady felt the most pressure.
“That was the first game that I was scared,” Brady said via the Tampa Bay Times.
Given he was in just his second NFL season at the time, not many quarterbacks would feel at ease in a game with the pressure and what was at stake. A Super Bowl on the line for any player in the NFL is a high-pressure environment, let alone a second-year player.
Brady details why he was scared
In the AFC Championship game that Brady was referring to, the Patriots defeated the Steelers 24-17 where Brady completed 12 of his 18 passes for 115 yards before he left the field with an injury and Drew Bledsoe took over.
Given the magnitude of the game and that he was playing against the much-vaunted Steelers defense, Brady certainly had his struggles.
“I was scared. The moment was definitely bigger than I was ready for," Brady said.
"From the start of the game, I was confused. I didn’t know what was coming. You know, all their different blitzes.”
But for the then-24-year-old Brady, he put those nerves aside as he led the underdog Patriots against the St. Louis Rams and Kurt Warner to a remarkable Super Bowl win.
With 1:30 left and the game tied at 17-17, Brady led the Patriots on a game-winning drive and marched down to the Rams' 30-yard line to give kicker Adam Vinatieri a chance to win the game.
A 48-yard attempt from Vinatieri sailed through the uprights, and Brady won the first of his seven Super Bowls in what was a win for the ages and put Brady on the map as the star of the NFL.
The ESPN docuseries airs for the first time on November 16 and has a total of 10 episodes. It is shaping up to be must-watch television as we get to see behind the scenes as one of the best to ever do it goes about his business.
