"Tom vs. Time" - new Brady documentary

nattysez

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Deepak Chopra's son is doing a deep-dive documentary about Brady.

The scene transpires early in the first installment of a new documentary series, “Tom vs. Time,” which will be posted later this month via Facebook’s mobile video platform, Facebook Watch. The series follows Brady not just as he has pursued his sixth Super Bowl championship in 2017, but also — as the title indicates — as he conducts his ongoing subversion campaign against the actuarial tables of quarterback longevity.
***

One venue where Brady is barely seen: Gillette Stadium, or pretty much anywhere in the Patriots’ facilities. For a player who has been the epitome of the Patriots team-first philosophy, Brady would seem an unlikely candidate to open such a close-up lens upon his off-field self, especially during the season — and especially for a project set to drop during the playoffs. A player not placing undo attention upon himself would constitute a first principle of Coach Bill Belichick’s colorless “Do Your Job” collectivism. That is one of the many remarkable aspects of “Tom vs. Time.”

It is unclear if Brady has even told his coach about the project. The Patriots spokesman Stacey James said the team was nominally aware that a Brady documentary was in the works, and tried to be helpful in providing credentials on the few occasions Chopra sought access to home games. Beyond that, the answer of how much Brady’s bosses were informed about “Tom vs. Time” remains shrouded in some Patriot-esque mystery.
 

The Social Chair

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He comes across really unlikable in the clip. He is so thirsty to create a brand and it's not going to happen.
 

Murderer's Crow

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I can only imagine the shitstorm Boston folk would give a NY player if they released or helped create a documentary about themselves.
 

OurF'ingCity

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Yeah, I didn't see a clip either. That said, if Brady agreed to give access I do assume that this will largely be a puff-piece. (The parts of the article trying to pile on the ESPN piece by suggesting that this will add further tension to his relationship with Belichick is just as stupid as the original article.)
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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He comes across really unlikable in the clip. He is so thirsty to create a brand and it's not going to happen.
Yeah it was really unlikable when he was playing with his kids and loving his wife. Cringeworthy. And his books, cookbooks, athletic wear and other shit just flat isn’t selling. I mean, it took like what, hours for his first book to sell out at like $100 a copy? Dude is wasting his time.
 

Byrdbrain

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I'm not sure the brand is going to last beyond his playing days but I have no idea what is unlikable about that video.
 

The Social Chair

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Yeah it was really unlikable when he was playing with his kids and loving his wife. Cringeworthy. And his books, cookbooks, athletic wear and other shit just flat isn’t selling. I mean, it took like what, hours for his first book to sell out at like $100 a copy? Dude is wasting his time.
You have the spirit of a warrior in you as well.
 

The Needler

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I can only imagine the shitstorm Boston folk would give a NY player if they released or helped create a documentary about themselves.
First, you're greatly (but typically) overestimating "Boston folks'" interest in or concern about New York. Second, I've seen no indication that Brady is releasing this video. If by helped create, you mean gave access to a filmmaker, it's hardly unique, especially for a GOAT in his sport. There were multiple documentaries made and released about Jordan while he was playing, including in Michael Jordan Air Time, where he granted the filmmakers significant access. Granted, he was not a "NY player," so maybe that's why we weren't up in arms.
 

E5 Yaz

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I can only imagine the shitstorm Boston folk would give a NY player if they released or helped create a documentary about themselves.
Yeah, it would almost be as bad as a New York player starting a website for athletes to "write" stories about themselves w/o reporters asking pesky questions
 

shaggydog2000

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First, you're greatly (but typically) overestimating "Boston folks'" interest in or concern about New York. Second, I've seen no indication that Brady is releasing this video. If by helped create, you mean gave access to a filmmaker, it's hardly unique, especially for a GOAT in his sport. There were multiple documentaries made and released about Jordan while he was playing, including in Michael Jordan Air Time, where he granted the filmmakers significant access. Granted, he was not a "NY player," so maybe that's why we weren't up in arms.
It's clearly an ad for TB12 inc. made by a prominent new age psuedoscience bullshit artist's son about a guy who is business partners with a new age pseudoscience bullshit artist. But you're right, puff pieces about prominent athletes have been pretty common. I would make fun of this for two minutes and promptly forget about it if it was Eli Manning and his EM10 method. It's not a big deal and few people are going to remember this as opposed to whatever happens this Saturday.
 

The Needler

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It's clearly an ad for TB12 inc. made by a prominent new age psuedoscience bullshit artist's son about a guy who is business partners with a new age pseudoscience bullshit artist. But you're right, puff pieces about prominent athletes have been pretty common. I would make fun of this for two minutes and promptly forget about it if it was Eli Manning and his EM10 method. It's not a big deal and few people are going to remember this as opposed to whatever happens this Saturday.
I just got around to looking at this Chopra's wiki page, and it was actually Eli's favorite receiver: "Later in 2015, Gotham directed and produced 'I Am Giant', a feature documentary on New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz." It looks like this is what he does. The Brady documentary is just the latest in a series that has included Kobe Bryant, Cruz, and some cricket player.
 

Byrdbrain

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I just got around to looking at this Chopra's wiki page, and it was actually Eli's favorite receiver: "Later in 2015, Gotham directed and produced 'I Am Giant', a feature documentary on New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz." It looks like this is what he does. The Brady documentary is just the latest in a series that has included Kobe Bryant, Cruz, and some cricket player.
Hold on just a second there, are you saying a prominent NY athlete had a documentary made about himself?
This can't be true since I have it on good authority that if that happened there would be a "shitstorm" in Boston.
 

DJnVa

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From article in opening post:

. A player not placing undo attention upon himself would constitute a first principle of Coach Bill Belichick’s colorless “Do Your Job” collectivism. That is one of the many remarkable aspects of “Tom vs. Time.”
What a hot take. It's not like Brady has a long history of taking less money (yes, his wife is rich, I get it--he still did it) and working his ass off. He's fucking almost 41. If there's one thing you can say about Brady it's that he really does not toot his own horn.

But NATIONWIDE IS ON YOUR SIDE WITH A MOTHERFUCKING PAPA JOHNS PIZZA.
 

Dotrat

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From article in opening post:



What a hot take. It's not like Brady has a long history of taking less money (yes, his wife is rich, I get it--he still did it) and working his ass off. He's fucking almost 41. If there's one thing you can say about Brady it's that he really does not toot his own horn.

But NATIONWIDE IS ON YOUR SIDE WITH A MOTHERFUCKING PAPA JOHNS PIZZA.
Would you like a Budweiser with that Pizza & Term Life Policy combo?
 

E5 Yaz

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I'm not sure the brand is going to last beyond his playing days but I have no idea what is unlikable about that video.
This type of post loses its effect unless you quote the previous post. Otherwise, a hit-and-run artist won't realize you responded.

I can only imagine the shitstorm Boston folk would give a NY player if they released or helped create a documentary about themselves.
 

Ralphwiggum

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I'm watching this. Tom Brady is a fascinating person. I'm not going out to buy the TB12 method book any time soon, but, sure, I am interested in a peak inside what makes Brady tick. I've long since come to the conclusion that he's a weirdo and if I ever met him he's probably not someone I would have a lot to talk about over a beer (if he drank beer) other than me doing my Chris Farley show thing. But that doesn't mean I'm not interested in seeing more than he give us in his league and team mandated media appearances.
 

cromulence

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crow is 100% right. If it was the DJ2 or CC52 method and there was a sleazy quack and infomerical-esque documentary involved, you guys would be ruthless. You'd tear it to shreds, and you'd be correct in doing so (and by the way I completely fail to see how The Players' Tribune really compares, regardless of how you feel about it). Unfortunately, I'm not sure we'll be able to rationally discuss these things until this Patriots dynasty ends. Right now, (most, not all) Pats fans are in full-on 1997-2005 entitled Yankees fans mode and a lot of them will defend almost anything related to Brady - even the things that are really difficult to defend. I get it, I've been there - in the moment, I desperately looked for a way to defend A-Rod's slap. But I know from experience that once the ride ends, you come back to reality and regain some perspective. I look forward to that happening for some Pats fans. Till then, the rest of us will be over here shitting all over the TB12 method.
 

InstaFace

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I'm not sure how you can shit over the TB12 method when the results on the field, of a 41-year-old player who takes a beating and never gets injured, pretty much sell themselves. None of us, to my knowledge, have a professional need to be as durable and flexible as he does. We may not even want that for ourselves in our own general efforts to stay healthy. But I have a feeling if Brady were sitting around eating Arby's every night, his career path into these last few years of his career would look a lot more like Favre and Manning than being sui generis.

There are parts of it that are clearly bullshit and parts of it that are cult-like, but as a whole I think its results speak for itself.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Tom Brady is a fascinating person.
Really? How so?

I love that he's the quarterback of my favorite football team, but Tom Brady is a snooze. (Which is fine, BTW. I don't care if he can carry a conversation, I just care that he can throw a football a long way and accurately.)
 

Van Everyman

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crow is 100% right. If it was the DJ2 or CC52 method and there was a sleazy quack and infomerical-esque documentary involved, you guys would be ruthless. You'd tear it to shreds, and you'd be correct in doing so (and by the way I completely fail to see how The Players' Tribune really compares, regardless of how you feel about it). Unfortunately, I'm not sure we'll be able to rationally discuss these things until this Patriots dynasty ends. Right now, (most, not all) Pats fans are in full-on 1997-2005 entitled Yankees fans mode and a lot of them will defend almost anything related to Brady - even the things that are really difficult to defend. I get it, I've been there - in the moment, I desperately looked for a way to defend A-Rod's slap. But I know from experience that once the ride ends, you come back to reality and regain some perspective. I look forward to that happening for some Pats fans. Till then, the rest of us will be over here shitting all over the TB12 method.
I hear this to an extent. But I think what is driving interest in this is more than just “Tom can do no wrong” – or even that he’s doing unprecedented things health-wise. It’s also that we really don’t know much about him. In a lot of ways he’s like Jeter in that respect – he has what is mostly a generic, Teflon public persona in which he shares very, very little of his true feelings. Which is pretty remarkable after 17 years in the limelight.

So I think a lot of the interest here is the opportunity to see another side of him. Even if it’s a choreographed version of bradys “warrior” side, which I expect it will be, that’s more data than we have now.
 

HoyaSoxa

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Gotham Chopra was on Katie Nolan's Garbage Time podcast a while back (obviously, since the podcast has been gone for close to a year) and I remember finding him very likable and seemingly not full of shit. He talked about his relationship with Brady back then, so clearly he is not going to be making anything TB12 would not approve, but I still think it could be an interesting watch.
 

joe dokes

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I'll watch to start, because I rarely see anything about him behind the scenes. (like BB's "football Life." It was excellent, but more so since there aren't many similar looks.) I'm guessing its going to be too long.

But I agree with JMOH; other than his otherworldly on-field exploits, i dont find much particularly interesting or compelling about him. On the Celtics thread, there was discussion of Jaylen Brown's recent interview. Whatever one thinks of the substance of it, it was both interesting and compelling, in a way that Brady, to my recollection, has never been. And Brown is half Brady's age.

But even that said, so what? Brown's (for example) articulateness may add some value to his fandom, but Brady's lack of pizazz does not detract any value from his, IMO.
 

Ralphwiggum

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Really? How so?

I love that he's the quarterback of my favorite football team, but Tom Brady is a snooze. (Which is fine, BTW. I don't care if he can carry a conversation, I just care that he can throw a football a long way and accurately.)
Maybe fascinating is the wrong word. He's a complete weirdo, and I think it might be interesting to get more of a glimpse into that. Maybe it'll be boring, who knows? He's certainly a snooze when it comes to press conferences and team/league mandated media opportunities, that I agree with.
 

shaggydog2000

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I'm not sure how you can shit over the TB12 method when the results on the field, of a 41-year-old player who takes a beating and never gets injured, pretty much sell themselves.

There are parts of it that are clearly bullshit and parts of it that are cult-like, but as a whole I think its results speak for itself.
Because there is absolutely zero proof, except for one piece of uncontrolled anecdotal evidence that shows one remarkable human being was able to succeed while engaging in this bullshit. Luck, prior ability, and all of the other normal activities he engages in could have as much or far more impact on him being healthy and performing well at his age. That he believes this crap, which is mostly disproven snake oil being sold by a proven fraud artist, does not mean it works if he does well, and does not work if he fails. If I was Belichick I wouldn't ban him from doing this stuff just because of the psychological effect it would have on him, it's mostly harmless but he seems to honestly believe it. Results never prove a process when the process is so unrelated to the result. This is how you get superstition. Do you think Wade Boggs batting titles were the result of his chicken based diet as well?
 

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I've interacted with Chopra a few times on the media beat (he's behind the Religion of Sports doc series; Brady is a producer) and he strikes me as a really good, genuine guy. More important, of course, is that he's a legit Boston sports fan. He put together the Ortiz docs for ESPN in his final season and can talk '80s Celtics all day. He's who I'd want doing this sort of thing with Brady.
 

InstaFace

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Because there is absolutely zero proof, except for one piece of uncontrolled anecdotal evidence that shows one remarkable human being was able to succeed while engaging in this bullshit. Luck, prior ability, and all of the other normal activities he engages in could have as much or far more impact on him being healthy and performing well at his age. That he believes this crap, which is mostly disproven snake oil being sold by a proven fraud artist, does not mean it works if he does well, and does not work if he fails. If I was Belichick I wouldn't ban him from doing this stuff just because of the psychological effect it would have on him, it's mostly harmless but he seems to honestly believe it. Results never prove a process when the process is so unrelated to the result. This is how you get superstition. Do you think Wade Boggs batting titles were the result of his chicken based diet as well?
Regarding the bolded: which aspects of his training regimen are "disproven snake oil"? I will spot you the concussion water, no argument (that's what I had in mind when I said "parts are clearly bullshit"). However there are like 20 other aspects he's mentioned before, whenever discussing the methods from his clinic. We've discussed them in related threads. Which of those are bullshit to you?

You don't get a controlled-experiment-sized pool of people trying something unless lots of them are willing to try it out based on anecdote and appeals to authority. Nothing is "proven", but it all does seem eminently plausible. I'm not sure how you go from "unproven" to "pseudoscience bullshit".
 

johnmd20

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Regarding the bolded: which aspects of his training regimen are "disproven snake oil"? I will spot you the concussion water, no argument (that's what I had in mind when I said "parts are clearly bullshit"). However there are like 20 other aspects he's mentioned before, whenever discussing the methods from his clinic. We've discussed them in related threads. Which of those are bullshit to you?

You don't get a controlled-experiment-sized pool of people trying something unless lots of them are willing to try it out based on anecdote and appeals to authority. Nothing is "proven", but it all does seem eminently plausible. I'm not sure how you go from "unproven" to "pseudoscience bullshit".
And there is also the Gronk data set. He started doing TB12 this year and he's been as healthy as he's been in years.

The knee jerk reaction to dismiss everything Brady does as garbage is breathtaking to me. Some of it must be of serious value. Taking care of yourself is important. Being pliable is important. Keeping swelling down is important. Eating healthy is important. Are the extremes of Brady necessary to generate gains? I would guess no, but some of what he does is surely useful to almost every athlete.

Is it fair to say Brady is really focusing on TB12 because he genuinely thinks it could help people, like it helped him?
 

joe dokes

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Whatever success Brady might be having, Guererro has a checkered "medical" and financial past, both according to the FTC and people that have settled lawsuits they filed against him. it's foolish not to be skeptical of anything he does that goes beyond diet and exercise.
 

cromulence

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I'm just stunned - you guys are smarter than this. If he thinks it's actually helping people, it's because he's been thoroughly taken by a scam artist - and that is exactly what Alex Guerrero is. He claimed in the past that nutritional supplements can cure cancer. There's the concussion water thing. There's also his obsession with "muscle pliability", which is something he made up. There's the claim that drinking water protects from sunburns. And that's just what I know without actually doing a deep dive into all of the nonsense they're selling. I'm sure there's a lot more BS in there.

It's all complete bullshit, and if it wasn't Tom Brady shilling it, I'm pretty sure you'd be able to see that. I'm willing to give you that maybe Brady has good intentions here and isn't just trying to make a buck (thought that requires being very charitable to his intentions). But you can't try to make Guerrero look good - he's not, and Brady's association with him is shameful.
 

kenneycb

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Given I grew up on the virtues of the food pyramid and learning the benefits of no-fat diets, I'm reluctant to call all of it bullshit. And his training regimen sounds reasonable enough to achieve the goals he is looking to achieve, which is largely flexibility and looseness in his muscles. Seems more like a ratcheted up yoga.
 

OurF'ingCity

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There's also his obsession with "muscle pliability", which is something he made up.
I agree with you that much of the TB12 method is BS at best and borderline dangerous at worst, but you should really check your facts before posting something like the above. I literally just typed in "muscle pliability" to Google and, while many of the hits were articles about TB12 or the TB12 website itself, I also found a 1994 Chicago Tribune article where a UCLA professor discusses the benefits of muscle pliability, a 2013 "Athletes for Yoga" post on how pliability benefits runners, and a Men's Health article about Conor McGregor from last year advocating similar methods.

So I think it would potentially be a fair criticism to say Guerrero just took stuff others have already advocated and re-packaged it (I'm not sure whether this is true or not because I don't know the details of the method, but I could definitely see it being true), but he pretty clear didn't make up the concept.
 

shaggydog2000

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Regarding the bolded: which aspects of his training regimen are "disproven snake oil"? I will spot you the concussion water, no argument (that's what I had in mind when I said "parts are clearly bullshit"). However there are like 20 other aspects he's mentioned before, whenever discussing the methods from his clinic. We've discussed them in related threads. Which of those are bullshit to you?

You don't get a controlled-experiment-sized pool of people trying something unless lots of them are willing to try it out based on anecdote and appeals to authority. Nothing is "proven", but it all does seem eminently plausible. I'm not sure how you go from "unproven" to "pseudoscience bullshit".
This is a fivethirtyeight article looking into some of the claims and showing how they are pseudoscience:

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/tom-brady-is-drowning-in-his-own-junk-science-advice/

Basically, his "alkaline" diet is disproven junk. Eating the right amount of calories and less meat is most likely good for you, but the majority of diets agree on this without adding things that are junk science.
Muscle Pliability is a made-up nonsense term. He talks about keeping muscles "long", but muscle length does not change, they're determined by bone and tendon lengths. Stretching is widely agreed to be a good idea, but you can get that in a program from a scientifically, medically sound source like a normal physical therapist.

And sounding plausible is how pseudoscience works. You start with stretching and end with water that prevents concussions or cures cancer and aids. Until the government tells you to stop. Guerrero isn't even licensed as a massage therapist or physical therapist. According to the Globe he was investigated for basically doing hands on treatments of clients at the TB12 offices without those licenses, and so he stopped. So this guy basically has absolutely none of the qualifications as a Doctor, scientist, physical therapist, or even masseuse to be an expert on what he claims to know about. He's the definition of a snake oil salesman. "Unproven yet!" is just the disguise he hides behind.