"It's definitely a workout" - Catching practice with Tom Brady left Ben Affleck doubting his own abilities

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is from California, not New England, but the area adopted him as one of its own after his 20 seasons playing for the New England Patriots. Bringing seven Super Bowls to the New England area can make anyone a hometown hero, no matter where you are from.

Tom Brady has made strong connections with other hometown legends, from Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon to John Cena and Batman himself, Ben Affleck. In fact, Ben Affleck shared an intimate encounter with Tom Brady during an interview on the Bill Simmons Podcast on Friday.

Ben Affleck says a game of catch with Tom Brady was an "intense workout"

Ben Affleck, a renowned actor and native of Cambridge, shared a story about Tom Brady that had him questioning his own physical abilities. Affleck has gotten himself in amazing physical shape over the years with his role in The Accountant and as the Daredevil and Batman characters. A simple game of catch with Tom Brady gave Affleck his most intense workout ever.

"I played catch with the man once and realized how very little we had in common. He was throwing the ball to me, and I was praying to God, not just because I wanted to impress the guy, which I very much did, but because I thought I would really get hurt because it shows up right in front of your face...After about 10 minutes, he was like 'Are you ready?...Now we'll really start throwing the ball.' I was like, 'Oh, my God, are you going to dump another 30 mph on this? Because I'm very much at my peak and really trying.'...It's definitely a workout. He uses it as a workout and he works you out...All of a sudden, you're like 'I'm going to work harder than I have in the last 25 years and it's something I'm going to pretend I'm accustomed to and that I can tolerate it, even though it's evident that I can't." - Ben Affleck on playing catch with Tom Brady.

Ben Affleck's athleticism is not that of a regular NFL receiver, and it showed when Tom Brady had him go out for a deeper pass.

"When he sends me 35 yards out, he has to wait the amount of time he normally waits for a guy to run 90 yards before passing the ball. He still, nonetheless, is able to calculate for an extremely slow middle-aged man's pace about running as fast as he can and turning around and thinking he is in the NFL and probably running the wrong route."

During the intense session of catch, Affleck also saw what makes Tom Brady the GOAT and why he stands above every other quarterback.

"He doesn't have that part of the brain where he gets nervous...He doesn't get tight. And by getting tight ruins him. That's why guys drop the ball on the clutch play....There are famous instances, plays they make 10,000 times....Even when we were playing catch, we weren't just playing catch. He would say, 'Alright, it's the Super Bowl. We're on the 16-yard line, it's fourth down. We have six seconds. We win this; it's everything. We miss; it's over.' Even just listening to him, I thought we were in the Super Bowl and thought, 'I'll do anything to catch this ball.'...The ball was a little past me and I lept out and dove. I think I was doing my 'Batman' at the time and was like, 'Nevermind my career, nevermind my aging body.'''

Ben Affleck, like many New Englanders, was split between aligning with Tom Brady or the Patriots. Affleck seems to be on Team Brady and recalled when he first met the quarterback at the White House Correspondents Dinner, calling Brady the "king of Boston."