Tom Brady, Future Hall Of Famer, On Colleges, Nil And State Of Flag Football

NEW YORK - Future Pro Football Hall of Fame Tom Brady has his hands in various entities these days, from being a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders to his broadcasting gig with FOX Sports.

Now, financial giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. has enlisted Brady and several high-profile athletes to create an athlete council that helps athletes navigate every aspect of their financial lives.

Others on the council include Alex Morgan, A’ja Wilson, Sue Bird, Jalen Brunson, Ally Love, Megan Rapinoe, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Dwyane Wade, who is the chair of the council.

The first meeting was held on Wednesday, before the athletes and J.P. Morgan Wealth Management CEO Kristin Lemkau met with the press at JPMorganChase’s new $3 billion headquarters in midtown Manhattan.

JPMorganChase says the athletes will meet periodically with leaders to discuss unique financial needs and guide program development tailored to elite performers.

Brady spoke with USA TODAY Sports after the council on a variety of topics, including college athletics, flag football, and his daily motivation. The interview was edited for clarity.

Tom Brady talks NIL and life after football

USA TODAY SPORTS: If you were named the commissioner of college athletics, what would be the first thing you would change?

Tom Brady: I think there's a lot of people thinking about this right now and trying to come up with the right solutions. for the athletes, for the schools, for the conferences, for the fans. And I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all, obviously, because I think if the solution were that easy, we probably would have found it.

I think there's been so much change so quickly. What may benefit an athlete might not be good for a school or a conference, and vice versa, but how do you find something that's really sustainable going forward in the future? Yes. And I think I'm, I wouldn't say I have the most educated ideas, but I probably don't know enough. And every situation is a little different. Like, my niece was a college softball player, which was phenomenal. She did pretty well in terms of making money in NIL. And I'm so happy for her because she would never have had the opportunity to make that. And then I hear other stories where there's a football player who may make a lot of money, and then, you know, leave to go somewhere else, and then you're kind of thinking, is that the intention of what this was really for? I would say right now, there's so many variables right now to consider. And also, what values do we have is, you know, what is college really supposed to teach us? 

USA TODAY: Do you think your experience at Michigan would be different if NIL had existed back then?

TB: I had a really challenging college experience. I think that college experience, which was really challenging for me, helped me succeed in my pro career. So sometimes I think about if I had an easier college experience. I wouldn't have had the same hunger and drive that allowed my pro career to be successful.

So, everyone has different values. You know, what do you want your college experience to be? What do you want your high school experience to be? And how do you want your youth experience to be? Because sports have become commercialized, and it wasn't like that when I was growing up. Sports were played because this is how we're going to get out there and exercise our bodies. So we're going to learn teamwork, we're going to learn competitiveness. And then maybe you get, as you've gotten a little bit older, now I can commit more time to it because I see a future in it.

And I think a lot of people are saying, wait a minute, there's a lot of money used in sports. We should create leagues, charge families, and go in the summer all year. And, I have nieces that, and my own kids, that, you know, it's a lot of money for families to do that. It's a big financial commitment. So it's just the evolution of sports, and look, sports have always changed.

USA TODAY: What would you tell the young athletes coming up about your experience of becoming an all-time great?

TB: I think that there's maybe we want to assume that money is the thing that motivates us. And my argument would be that's not the only motivator. And for some people, it's not the primary motivator. Because my view is I've seen a lot of athletes make a lot of money and not be motivated. And I've seen athletes not make a lot of money and not be motivated. So I don't think the only variable is how much money you make should motivate you. And there's lots of forms of motivation that you can tap into whatever career you're in. My main motivation was, I don't want to let my teammates down.

Now, I didn't get paid in college. And I worked really hard. So you're telling me I wasn't motivated by being a pro. I was motivated being a good teammate. and ultimately trying to play at a college that I wanted to play at. And then I got into the pros, and it became more professional. I still wanted to be a good teammate. There are motivations to go, man, I'd love to play good so I can get a contract. And then I got that, and then there was a going to one Super Bowl, and I got that, and I want to make a Pro Bowl and be an All-Pro, and I want to be a great teammate, and now I want to be my best. Now I want to be my best for a long period of time.

So I think motivations change over time. But I think the one thing that in our society right now, and I'm not opposed to it, it's not right or wrong, but I think there's a real emphasis on the money being paid, which, as we know, money is, it's an amazing tool to help us but also, you got to get up and go make a living.

USA TODAY: Is the flag football event (this weekend's Fanatics Flag Football Classic) a springboard to get players interested in competing in the Los Angeles Olympics?

TB: When I started playing football on the street, you play with your buddies. So, it wasn't always contact football. And then I went from that to, like I said, we play flag football on PE all the time. So then I was very fortunate and we looked at a bunch of things here and these slides that we're looking at, how many high school athletes can become college athletes, how many college athletes become pro athletes?

I think when you open that up to say, all right, well, a lot of people who love the sport can play and there's different varieties of place that we can play. You can play tackle football. Or whether you can play flag football. So there's, you know, a lot of people playing flag football right now. There are 8 million people playing football right now.

USA TODAY: For someone who has accomplished so much, what's your motivation when you get up in the morning?

TB: I don't think it's one, and I don't think it's every day. It's the same. But I think for me it's just continuing progress and continuing to look at yourself and go, you know, where do I need to emphasize my energy and my time to support my life for the people I care about? And I'm involved in different businesses, different business people I care about and involved in some sports teams. Those people I care about in my family. That's why I care about my friends. That's what I care about. So it's a long life where I live in.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tom Brady on state of college athletics, QB development, flag football