FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has carried a chip on his shoulder since being the 199th pick in the 2000 NFL draft. He has something else, too: his shoulder pads from the University of Michigan.
"I've worn them for 25 years," he said.
That revelation, first made on the "Quick Slants" podcast on NBC Sports Boston, means Brady was wearing those shoulder pads in his Michigan debut before five of his current teammates were born.
The shoulder pads were first issued to him during his freshman year in 1995, and Brady was well into his third season wearing the "Douglas 25Ls" when cornerback Joejuan Williams, the Patriots' second-round pick out of Vanderbilt this year, was born in December 1997.