In the first game of 2008, Tom Brady’s ninth NFL season and eighth as a starter, he suffered a torn ACL. On Sunday, Patrick Mahomes had the same injury in his ninth NFL season and eighth as a starter.
Appearing on SiriusXM’s Let’s Go! podcast, Brady had some advice for Mahomes.
“The only thing you can do is focus on what’s ahead of you and not look back,” Brady told host Jim Gray. “And just say, ‘OK, this is part of what my career is going to be.’ And a lot of people have gone through it and a lot of people have overcome it. You’ve just got to put as much diligence into the rehab process. And I always feel like the faster you rehab, the faster you can get back to practicing the sport that you know you love. I think sometimes people will pace themselves. Instead of training mode, they’re in rehab mode. I think you gotta get through rehab mode as fast as possible and then you get back to training mode. But that requires an all-out commitment and it’s the same commitment that the great professional athletes make to be great at their profession. When you go through the rehab process, you need that same level of focus and determination.”
Brady nevertheless said it won’t be easy.
“It’s a tough rehab,” Brady said. “It’s one of the toughest rehabs. I just remember every day pushing myself. And it’s always the same amount of pain and discomfort except you’re making progress through that pain and discomfort, which is a hard psychological thing to battle. You feel like, God, every day, it doesn’t feel right. Except you’re gaining range of motion and you’re gaining strength and you are on the road to recovery. So I wish him the very best.”
The difference between Brady and Mahomes is that Brady was a pocket passer. Mahomes relies on mobility, agility, and change of direction. More natural stress will be placed on Mahomes’s new ACL. That may require him to alter his playing style until the knee has fully recovered.
Also, Brady (whose recovery included an infection) had a full year to prepare to play again. Mahomes has fewer than nine months until the 2026 season begins.
