If Matthew Stafford needs some help relating to his younger teammates, he might want to call Tom Brady for some advice.
Stafford's wife, Kelly, revealed this week that Matthew has had some trouble connecting with the younger players on the Rams roster. Of course, the 35-year-old Rams quarterback isn't the first player ever who has had to deal with this issue. Brady also had to figure out how to relate to his younger teammates during the latter part of his career, but unlike Stafford, the seven-time Super Bowl winner didn't seem to have any issues.
During the 2021 season, the then-44-year-old Brady was actually asked how he was able to relate to teammates who were half his age, and he gave a pretty in-depth answer.
"It's a great question," Brady said at the time, via Bucs Wire. "A great question -- a lot of the guys are kind of closer to my son's age than my age. It actually probably helps me with my sons, just communicating with them because it's a lot of young players. But I think the key is genuinely just caring and wanting to see those guys kind of fulfill their potential. I think that's part of being a veteran player, seeing other guys [succeed.]"
Brady's goal wasn't necessarily to relate to his younger teammates, but to bring the "best" out in them, which, in the end, helped him relate better to the newer guys on the roster.
"I've been very fortunate over the years to have people come into my life that brought the best out of me," Brady said. "That's all I'm trying to do for a lot of these guys, too, is just put them in a position in the best way that I know how to see them succeed. There's no other way to care than just to care about people and care about what we're doing."
Brady also said that if he did his job well, he could help his teammates do their job well.
"It's certainly a priority, trying to be the best I can be for this team, and I think doing my job well is really important," Brady said. "Then having the experience to do other things and share with others -- the receivers, the running backs, the tight ends, the O-Line -- some things here and there that can really help them so that maybe they can take it and have a very successful career themselves."
During his 23-year NFL career, Brady seemed to be almost universally loved by his teammates, so if there's one guy who knows how to get along with everyone in the locker room, it's him. Stafford and Brady both won a Super Bowl after switching teams late in their careers and if Stafford were to pick up the phone to ask for advice, Brady would probably be more than happy to help.
The best leaders figure out how to lead under any circumstance, which is what Brady did, and now, Stafford will need to do the same.
