It's hard to imagine there are many people out in the world completely unaware of who Tom Brady is. Brady, who has been the Patriots quarterback since 2001, is one of the most famous athletes in the world and also happens to be married to Gisele Bundchen, one of the most famous models in the world. Brady was involved in a huge gate-level scandal that almost ended up with a lawsuit in the Supreme Court. 

My mom knows who Tom Brady is so it's pretty surprising to find out that Ichiro Suzuki, a longtime Mariners baseball player, might not. But according to a story from Peter Gammons of The Athletic, Ichiro once got a text from Brady, didn't know who he was and had to ask "Who the f--- is Tom Brady?" 

Several things to unpack here.

One, this was LAST YEAR. It's not like it was 2001. Ichiro has been hanging out and living in America for quite a while now. He should know who Brady is.

Two, even though it's a generic name, it's still TOM BRADY. If someone called my house and said "hey this is Tom Brady" I wouldn't be like "who the F is Tom Brady?" I would say "like, the Patriots quarterback?" It could be "Tom Brady's Terrific Towel Service" calling me back after I'd called them and I would still think "oh man this might be Tom Brady from the Patriots."

Three, I love that A-Rod was the go-between for the two parties here. That cracks me up for some reason.

And four, maybe Ichiro was just kidding. That's entirely possible, right? He could have known who Brady was, and likely did. 

Or, and this might be the most likely answer, the situation was just so out of context that Ichiro couldn't match the name with the famous quarterback. That happens to me a lot: you see someone from a work setting at a neighborhood function (or the grocery store or whatever) and you get thrown off because in your brain they should be somewhere else. 

Ichiro might have had baseball on the brain when the got the text -- especially with it coming through the conduit of Rodriguez -- and could not for the life of him figure out what person in the world of baseball named Tom Brady would be worthy of getting his number from A-Rod.

Or maybe Ichiro is just so routine-obsessed and focused on baseball that he's completely tuned out anything relating to American football for the past 10 or 15 years. That would be hilarious, and somewhat ironic considering how Brady approaches the game himself.