I picked up the Sports Illustrated for the Week of May 25, 2009 and could not believe who was on the cover. The NBA playoffs are in the Conference Finals and both series have been good. Was Lebron, Kobe, or Dwight on the cover? NO. Baseball is starting to get into full swing. Any baseball players on the cover? Uh, NO. The Indy 500 was this past weekend. Was the winner on the cover? NO. Believe it or not, in the dead zone of the NFL off season (after the draft and before training camp), a football player who played only 15 plays last season was on the cover. Thomas Edward Brady, the quarterback of the New England Patriots, or as I like to call them The 'Triots (Tree-otts).
Most of you think, Brady is McGaw "The Hater's" favorite athlete. What none of you really know is that Maria Sharapova is my favorite athlete. You figure it out. As much as I pull for Tom, I could not understand how or why he would be on the cover of SI for this week? NFL Preview issue, sure. As training camp opens, after the NBA and NHL, middle of baseball season, sure. But now? It is absolutely ridiculous! The article was great but it should have waited at least another month.
The article, I believe written by Peter King, talked about how good Brady felt and how he was on schedule to start training camp at 100%. Brady claims he has no limitations from his surgically repaired knee. He has no pain running, cutting, or stepping into throws. In fact, Brady has already been working out with all of his receivers as the team has been putting in new pass plays. Well, as any Brady fan, I am thrilled BUT as Santa says to the reindeer every Christmas Eve, "we gotta long way to go"!
Sure, it is great that Brady feels as well as he does but the real tests will come later. During two a day practices, after being on his feet for several hours and running several wind sprints, will the knee swell up? How long will it take for the knee to recover from any stiffness, as it recovers from those grueling long practices? In addition, several players who have had torn ACL's have shown that they were not completely healed and at 100% until approximately 18 months after the surgery, which would be April of 2010 for Brady.
However, McGaw "The Hater" doesn't really worry about the physical rehab for Brady. Brady is one of the fiercest competitors in all of sports. He will be in the best physical condition possible, as far as rehabbing the knee. McGaw "The Hater" worries about the mental rehab. How will Brady react when he is in the pocket, bodies crashing all around him, as he steps forward to unleash a pass, and someone falls right at his feet? Remember, Brady's knee was shredded as he stepped forward to throw and a defenders' head hit his left knee. When bodies land at his feet will he see them and flinch? Will it cause his accuracy to be just a little off? In addition, he has only played 15 plays in live game action since February 2008, that's 15 months? Can you say rusty?
Brady is great, one of the best of all time but he is no where close, physically or mentally, to being the quarterback who threw 50 TD passes in 2007. He is only "getting there". After he goes through training camp without any complications or set backs, he will be a little more confident. Until he takes his first hit on that knee, he will always have the question is it going to hold up? If Brady doesn't suffer any set backs in preseason games, when real defenders are trying to take his head off, he will build a little more physical and mental confidence.
But no one will know, including Brady, how good his knee and mental edge are until he gets to Week 1 of the 2009 NFL season against the Buffalo Bills. No more red "do not touch jersey" of practice. No more bland, basic defensive schemes of preseason while playing only a quarter or two. The first team defense of the Bills will be coming full bore trying to not only rip Brady's head off but his knee apart also. McGaw "The Hater" even expects the Triots to ease Brady back into the saddle in that game by running the football more. So it could be the second or third or even fourth game of the 2009 season before Brady is close to being what he once was. Everyone around Brady may be upbeat in the third week of May about his condition, but until Brady takes some hits in the pocket during a real NFL game and still delivers the ball with pin point accuracy, McGaw "The Hater" will refer to his status as "getting there"! And Sports Illustrated, along with everyone else, should also!
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