File this under “How did nobody know about it until now ?!”
Quirky Research Twitter account, which has tons of interesting NFL tidbits from the past few years, tweeted a truly mind-boggling article on Wednesday.
On February 3, 1983, when then Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw needed off-season elbow surgery, he decided to go incognito. He did not check into Doctor’s Hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana under his own name and instead used the alias “Tom Brady”. Really.
On that day in 1983, the most successful quarterback in Super Bowl history checked into a hospital in Louisiana under an assumed name. pic.twitter.com/Yr3ujc0fHC
– Quirky Research (@QuirkyResearch) March 3, 2021
There was no way Bradshaw, or anyone but a true psychic, could have known that “Tom Brady” was the name of a six-year-old California boy who might one day become the greatest quarterback the game has ever seen. Bradshaw was just trying to avoid fans while his elbow was being surgically repaired, but that didn’t stop him from visiting sick kids and cheering them up during his stay, which is pretty adorable.
It’s also strange that Bradshaw wasn’t quoted at all for this story. Only the doctor who operated on Bradshaw, Dr. William Burdick and the hospital administrator Charles Boyd were quoted for the story. It’s not clear if Bradshaw gave the hospital permission to tell the story (and burn his pen name) or if the hospital decided to grab a headline or two and talk to the press about it. It’s also possible Bradshaw was too busy to be quoted. The article states that after the operation he “went to New York to do a commercial and served as Grand Marshall [sic] for the CocaCola 500 Stock Car Race. “
The story goes on
Terry Bradshaw used the name “Tom Brady” to check into a hospital in February 1983, 17 years before the real Tom Brady made his NFL debut. (Photo by Focus on Sport / Getty Images)
Unfortunately, elbow surgery didn’t fix Bradshaw’s problem. He didn’t play for the Steelers until the 15th game of the 1983 season and felt his elbow bang as he threw the last pass of his career. He retired after that season, leaving the name “Tom Brady” for the real Brady when he made his NFL debut 17 years later.
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