Tom Brady (Image via Getty Images)
The seven-time Super Bowl champion built an NFL career that few could have predicted when he entered the league as the 199th overall pick in 2000.
“Think of today’s world, how we screw these kids up,” Brady told Fortune editor-in-chief Alyson Shontell. “Every time they mess up, we send them to an easier place to succeed.” Tom Brady knows what it takes to turn setbacks into success. Now, the former quarterback has a message for parents who want to see their children succeed. Brady believes shielding kids from failure could hold them back, and he is putting that belief into practice while raising his three children.
Brady also credited the challenges he faced before reaching the NFL for helping him build a career that spanned 23 seasons.
“We’ve all faced different challenges in life; we’ve all faced our own adversities,” he said. “The blessing my parents gave: When I was that long-shot as a kid who was a backup quarterback, they never said, man, don’t do that, it’ll be too hard, think about another backup plan,” Brady said. “They said, go for it—that’s probably my parenting style.”
His own journey offers a clear example. Brady spent his high school years working to earn the starting quarterback role, rather than expecting it to come easily. He believes those demanding experiences helped shape the player he became. “Look at the hardest things that have ever happened. We look back at those and realize they’re the best things that could’ve happened.