Shaun Alexander knew that Tom Brady was going to be a legend before he did. Both Alexander and Brady were drafted in 2000, and while Alexander was selected much higher than Brady, the former Seattle Seahawks running back believed that Brady was going to do some big things in his NFL career. PopCulture.com recently caught up with Alexander who talked about the message he had for Brady after he was drafted to the New England Patriots in the sixth round.
“I remember seeing him at the rookie symposium. And I said, ‘Bro, you’re going to be pretty good,’” Alexander exclusively told PopCulture. ” And he said, ‘oh really? You think so, why would you say that?’ I said, ‘Well, honestly, as humble as I can say, I’ve only been in a zone one other time and got beat. And that was one of them.’ And so I just said, ‘So there’s something about you that you know how to win.’ And I won in high school or high school was ranked nationally. Bama was Bama.
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“I said, ‘Yeah, you keep playing.’ And so, we stayed in touch over our careers, and it’s been really fun. I’ve been telling him that when he retired that I’d get my wife and take his wife, and we’d all go out to eat dinner together and start hanging out again.”
Alexander and Brady, two NFL legends who are on the 2000s All-Decade Team, battled each other when they were in college. In 1999, Alexander was a senior at Alabama while Brady was a senior at Michigan. The two teams played against each other in the 2000 Orange Bowl, and Michigan would come away with a 35-34 win. Alexander rushed for 161 yards and three touchdowns in the game, while Brady completed 34 of 46 passes for 369 yards and three touchdowns.
In the NFL, Alexander, who was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the first round, played eight seasons with the team and one with Washington. He won the MVP award in 2005, was named Offensive Player of the Year the same season and was selected to the Pro Bowl three times. Brady put together multiple Hall of Fame careers, winning six Super Bowls with the Patriots and one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He also was named Super Bowl MVP five times and NFL MVP three times. Brady announced his retirement from the NFL in February. When talking about Brady, Alexander said, “I’ve been really proud of him. I’m excited for him to retire and get into another life that’s just amazingly wonderful that he’ll be successful in.”
