While Tom Brady is currently again under discussion in the NFL world for his comments about the Miami Dolphins earlier this week (where he didn’t dismiss the possibility of unretiring again and possibly playing for the Dolphins), he showed up at quite a different sports event Saturday. There, Brady was in Los Angeles to watch his niece Maya and the UCLA Bruins’ softball team take on the Arizona State Sun Devils:
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Maya Brady, a junior at UCLA, is having quite the year for the No. 2 Bruins. She’s the reigning Pac-12 player of the week, and as of Thursday, she was leading the Pac-12 in batting average (.444), on-base percentage (.520), slugging percentage (.905), runs scored (48), hits (56), and total bases (114), and was second in home runs (15). She also broke a 24-year-old UCLA record in February with 11 consecutive hits.
This weekend, Brady recorded two hits and a RBI Friday in UCLA’s 7-3 win over Arizona State. She and teammate Megan Grant (who went four-for-four Friday with a home run and four RBIs) are third and second in the conference in RBIs with 51 and 53 respectively after each adding another in the Bruins’ 9-1 mercy rule win over the Sun Devils Saturday night. That win boosted their season record to 42-4.
Earlier this week, Brady spoke to Shane Vereen (a former teammate of her uncle’s with the New England Patriots) and Sean Farnham about her relationship with her uncle. She said he’s been a great support for her, but he’s also even more competitive than she is.
So, what's it like having a 7-time Super Bowl Champion and the GOAT as your uncle? @UCLASoftball Standout Maya Brady (@BradyMaya) talks about her relationship with future Hall of Famer @TomBrady.
She tells @SeanFarnham & @ShaneVereen34 on @Pac12 Radio!@SiriusXMNFL | #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/UwrMxQfw3x
— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) April 21, 2023
“I love him and he’s like a father figure to me, so I’m very honored, obviously, that I have this last name and I have the family that I have,” Maya said. “I think it’s just something that I’ve had to kind of grow into and it’s a huge blessing for me.
“It has taught me a lot throughout my life. Dealing with adversity and blocking people out when they have stuff to say, so I think it’s just been a very positive thing for me and I’m very blessed.”
…”Honestly — as you know we’re both very competitive — I hate to admit that he’s probably more competitive than me,” Maya said. “I would honestly have to admit that he’s more competitive than me and intense when he’s under center.”
So that’s intense indeed. And we’ll see if Brady winds up making another return to the NFL, or if his comments this week were more just vagueness, and if he’ll instead limit his competitiveness to lawsuits, business ventures, and potentially announcing. But it’s cool to see him supporting his superstar niece in person. And she seemed to appreciate it as well, commenting “I love you uncle Tommy❤️ thank you for coming!!!!☺️☺️☺️” in response to his Instagram post.
[Marca, Tom Brady on Instagram]
