Tom Brady's NFL Scouting Combine is part of his legend. He didn't look like a future NFL MVP when he met with Michigan's NFL team, but his slow 40-yard dash would end up being featured on NFL Network's combine broadcasts every year. There's a reason he was a sixth-round pick.
Brady is also aging in reverse, like football's Benjamin Button.
Brady hoped to make up for his slow 40-second time at the NFL Scouting Combine (5.28 seconds in 2000, at age 22) by repeating it at age 46. That was about a year after he retired from the NFL.
And if the videos on Brady's social media are to be believed, Brady has surpassed his 2000 time.
Brady wore two stopwatches while running, one reading 5.18 seconds and the other 5.12 seconds.
There are a few things to keep in mind here. Everything on the Internet is subject to tampering. It's possible the clock was a little faster (Brady running his 5.3 doesn't go viral), or there may have been other tricks that need to be considered in the social media video. But if it's valid, it's absolutely amazing that Brady would run a faster 40-second run at age 46 than he did at 22. There are very few athletes, even elite athletes like Brady, who are faster at 46 than they were in their early 20s.
There was also an overlay of Brady in his 40s on the NFL's social media feed.
Brady is famously passionate about his health regimen, which is one reason he has had more success as a quarterback into his 40s than any other player in NFL history. Of Brady's victories over Father Time, being faster now than he was in 2000 may be one of the most impressive of his.
No one is going to stop showing Brady's throw 40 from decades ago. But a lot has changed since then.
