Player Profiles

There is no need for an introduction when it comes to Tom Brady. He is a living legend without question and will go down as the most exceptional draft value ever in the NFL. Most people thought Brady would never wear a different uniform other than the New England Patriots. With countless wins, six Super Bowl rings, and more awards and records than you can fathom, everyone assumed that when it was time to retire, he would do so in Foxboro. That's not the case.

He will be joining an elite cast of offensive talent in Tampa Bay for the 2020 NFL season. I don't need to go into his entire career; it would probably take me ten pages. After all, he is my (Dr. Morse) favorite player. Growing up in Massachusetts and watching him since high school, I grew up with Boston sports dominating the American scene, and he was an integral part of that.

For the most part, Tom Brady has been able to stay healthy throughout his career. Brady has played in all 16 games in 16 of 18 NFL seasons (after he became the starter)! The two seasons where he missed games included the 2008 season, where he suffered the unfortunate ACL tear in the first game of the season, then 2016, with the four-game suspension. Another Iron Man!

Brady has never been the most agile, fast, or athletic, but what he lacks in physical attributes, he makes up for with quick decision making, elite understanding of defenses and high football IQ.

In 2019, Brady suffered an injury that he likely was dealing with for many seasons - tendonitis of his throwing elbow . Can you honestly be surprised?

With almost 10,000 passing attempts in the NFL, and that is not including any high school, college, or practice throws, there's a lot of mileage on his body. Despite his unusual take on modern medicine, use of his performance center, and trainer, as well as his anti-inflammatory diet, Brady has been able to withstand the test of time like very few in the NFL have been able to.

Brady is now 43-years old, and will now play in the beautiful weather of Tampa, Florida. No longer does he have to worry about the drop in atmospheric pressure, as it correlates with cold weather, which causes arthritis to flare, and become more achy and painful (now you understand why people travel to Florida in the winter).

In 2019, his right elbow injury was due to chronic wear and tear. While it is very challenging to get an exact medical diagnosis out of the Patriots' organization, I suspect that this is chronic tendinitis and wearing down of the multiple ligaments that help hold the elbow together.

The tendinitis will continue to be a chronic issue. It could require a combination of appropriate rehab, ice, bracing, decreased volume of throwing during practice, as well as other treatments(possibly platelet-rich plasma, PRP). To learn more about elbow tendonitis, click here .

Brady should be able to control the inflammation in the elbow enough to continue to win. I wanted to mention another injury that was never confirmed by the team. Still, Patriots beat writers, who are usually very intuitive, are confident that he was indeed dealing with something else. That is a foot injury that Brady suffered at some point in December 2019.