Tom Brady believes passing on his sporting knowledge to Birmingham City’s players will be his ‘biggest contribution’ to the club’s success.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion is a minority investor in Blues, under Knighthead Capital Management, and recently visited Birmingham to watch the team defeat Wrexham. Brady’s team captured footage from his latest trip to England for his new YouTube channel including a conversation between the 47-year-old and Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney.
McElhenney, who took charge of Wrexham alongside fellow actor Ryan Reynolds in 2020, was asked to give Brady some advice and duly responded: “Listen more than you talk. Ryan and I, who talk for a living, recognise that this is all about the community and the people that come to these stadiums.
“They have been coming to these stadiums for 100 years. The NFL was founded in the 20s, and these teams have been going for 150 years.
“Ryan and I very specifically stay out of the locker room. We go in and talk to the guys but we don’t have pep talks. We try to stay away from all football operations. That’s going to be such a competitive advantage for you because when you talk to those guys, you’re probably one of five people on planet earth that everybody in every locker room will listen to.”
Brady said: “For me, that’s where my biggest contribution can come. I was a player, I was lucky to live my dream. Now that I’m beyond it, how do I help 20 young guys do it? There’s a way to do it, it can’t be a mystery.
“You don’t sub-contract that out. There’s a way to do it. It’s a non-negotiable for me, ‘This is what we’re doing and I’m sorry but you don’t have a choice.’”
