After the New England Patriots drafted Jimmy Garoppoloin the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft, questions surfaced about how long Tom Brady would helm Bill Belichick's squad.
Owner Robert Kraft weighed in last week on NFL Network's "NFL Total Access," saying he believes Brady, 36, has "a lot of play left."
Tom Terrific himself said he plans on playing into his 40s.
While some scoff at the idea of Brady playing productively after he's surpassed the big 4-0, his personal throwing coach, Tom House, is confident the signal-caller will.
House was the pitching coach with the Texas Rangers in the mid-1980s, when Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan entered the twilight of his career. Ryan pitched until he was 46.
House told The Providence Journal's Mark Daniels that he sees similarities between Brady and Ryan.
"We know that if the athlete is willing to pay his dues -- willing to do what he needs to do -- he can delay the aging process, not forever, but he can slow it down. I think Tom is going to be one of those," House said. "I'll put him in the same neighborhood as Nolan Ryan with his commitment to pushing that aging process back.
"And it's not just mechanics, it's functional strength," he continued. "It's mental/emotional. It's nutrition. It's all the things that are required of an elite athlete. They just have to work harder and smarter about it than they did getting to the top of their career."
Brady began working with House in 2012 after the death of Tom Martinez, his longtime QB guru.
House -- who Ryan credited for keeping him in shape as his career wound down -- meets with Brady several times a year to go over details of the quarterback's mechanics. House believes Brady has an attention to detail similar to that which allowed Ryan to extend his career.
"It's doable. And if I haven't been through it with a superstar like Nolan, I wouldn't be as confident as I am that Tom can do the same thing," House said. "Of the athletes that I'm working with, he's right up there with ones that I can project to be efficient and effective into his mid-40s."
The latest "Around The League Podcast"Â breaks down the news and examines developments from the first week of OTAs.
