The seriousness of Tom Brady’s 2018 playoff thumb injury

[Mack Herron]

Author Jeff Benedict explores the greatest contemporary sports dynasty of our time, the New England Patriots, in his upcoming book “The Dynasty,” which releases Tuesday. This excerpt is from Chapter 42, “Threading the Needle,” which highlights QB Tom Brady’s hand injury leading into the Jan. 21, 2018, AFC Championship game.

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[40yrpatsfan]

Fantastic article, I didn't realize the injury was that bad. That Jags game and the Ravens playoff game, where we came back from 14 twice, are two of Brady's greatest feats.

 

[FCB02062]

The article or book excerpt, doesn't make belichick look good ..he scowled, he groused, etc ..book must be sourced mainly from the quarterback... author also makes sure to mention that Guerrero was by Brady's side all the time, while the coach left his side.. Guerrero, most.likely caressing Tom's nether regions

 

[luuked]

What I get out of this fascinating article is that Brady is a lucky dumbass for consistently ignoring Leibman's expert advice:

“Tom, I don’t want to touch the sutures.”

Brady explained that he didn’t like the feel of the suture tails pushing against the bandage and pressing against the ball when he gripped it.

“Tom, my biggest concern is that the sutures are going to unravel and it’s going to split open.”

“I trust you,” Brady said.

“I really don’t want to touch them.”

“You need to do it.”

It was a negotiation that Leibman knew he was losing. He reached for a pair of suture scissors and peeled back the bandage over Brady’s wound.

“Tom, we really shouldn’t do this,” he said.

People will say that Brady was right just because of how this specific situation turned out but that's horseshit and not how dealing with uncertainty works. He got lucky that nothing else went wrong during handoffs, throws or when he got hit by Jaguars players. This could have gone bad in so many ways and most of them outside of his own control.

In retrospect it is actually pretty risky that BB didn't bring in any additional QB just in case Brady would a no-go on Sunday. One stupid decision from Hoyer and they would have been without a QB. Especially in a year with Edelman on IR and no developmental QB on the PS. I get that he didn't want to give anything away but that seems really risky.

That was actually my benchmark back then for why I wasn't particularly anxious about Brady missing the game. I thought if there really was a realistic chance he wouldn't make it then BB would have brought someone in just to be save.

 

[farn]

The article or book excerpt, doesn't make belichick look good ..he scowled, he groused, etc ..book must be sourced mainly from the quarterback... author also makes sure to mention that Guerrero was by Brady's side all the time, while the coach left his side.. Guerrero, most.likely caressing Tom's nether regions

BB > Guerrero. I don’t need a book for that. Shady dude.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Freaking Burkhead...

 

[Uptown]

Excellent piece

 

[Brandon_Cox]

Wow

 

[Koma]

I don’t know if it’s a weird blind spot or a dislike of Brady, but him playing the AFCCG and Super Bowl with an injury to his throwing hand almost never comes up. Jack Youngblood and TO get credit for playing hurt in losing SB causes. Under similar circumstances, Brady gets mocked even though he had a terrific performance.

 

[BTTA]

I don’t know if it’s a weird blind spot or a dislike of Brady, but him playing the AFCCG and Super Bowl with an injury to his throwing hand almost never comes up. Jack Youngblood and TO get credit for playing hurt in losing SB causes. Under similar circumstances, Brady gets mocked even though he had a terrific performance.

Good point. I also don't understand why they used him as a receiver in that trick SB play where he couldn't quite catch the pass. Seems like a huge risk to take.

 

[sb1]

I don’t know if it’s a weird blind spot or a dislike of Brady, but him playing the AFCCG and Super Bowl with an injury to his throwing hand almost never comes up. Jack Youngblood and TO get credit for playing hurt in losing SB causes. Under similar circumstances, Brady gets mocked even though he had a terrific performance.

This is why Rodney Harrison’s skirt dig at Brady was absolute trash. Brady had the rep of being a soft player who whines to refs if he gets touched and Rodney threw gasoline right on that fire.

This was after Suggs dove at Brady’s reconstructed knee and the flag came out when Brady angrily pointed it out and I don’t blame him at all. I would have thrown the flag too.

 

[Boomer B]

Great article. I heard on the radio that the Kraft’s were a main source for this book.

 

[Deus Irae]

What I get out of this fascinating article is that Brady is a lucky dumbass for consistently ignoring Leibman's expert advice:



People will say that Brady was right just because of how this specific situation turned out but that's horseshit and not how dealing with uncertainty works. He got lucky that nothing else went wrong during handoffs, throws or when he got hit by Jaguars players. This could have gone bad in so many ways and most of them outside of his own control.

In retrospect it is actually pretty risky that BB didn't bring in any additional QB just in case Brady would a no-go on Sunday. One stupid decision from Hoyer and they would have been without a QB. Especially in a year with Edelman on IR and no developmental QB on the PS. I get that he didn't want to give anything away but that seems really risky.

That was actually my benchmark back then for why I wasn't particularly anxious about Brady missing the game. I thought if there really was a realistic chance he wouldn't make it then BB would have brought someone in just to be save.

The doctor was playing it safe. The player was trying to win a game. There was a bit of push and pull. This happens all the time, and not only with athletes.

 

[sean10mm]

Great article. I heard on the radio that the Kraft’s were a main source for this book.

Maybe a different interview, but the author said he also got a TON of time with Brady, and even got Belichick to give him more than he thought he'd get. IIRC Belichick got a ton of questions in writing & sent back written responses. This is probably the best sourced book in terms of having firsthand answers from all 3 guys.

 

[Boomer B]

Maybe a different interview, but the author said he also got a TON of time with Brady, and even got Belichick to give him more than he thought he'd get. IIRC Belichick got a ton of questions in writing & sent back written responses. This is probably the best sourced book in terms of having firsthand answers from all 3 guys.

Yup. I heard the same on the Curran podcast. Can’t wait to get this book.