Ben Affleck on playing catch with Tom Brady: “Aside from the birth of my children, that was the greatest day of my life”

There have been plenty of highlights during Ben Affleck’s life - his two Academy Awards wins probably rank up there with some of the best moments - and becoming a father to his three kids: Violet, Sam and Seraphina.

And one of the biggest thrills of all was running routes with the greatest quarterback in history Tom Brady. Affleck recounted his masterclass with the New England Patriot legend in the lastest episode of the New Heights podcast - to the delight of hosts Jason and Travis Kelce.

Affleck’s dream football practice with Tom Brady

A chance meeting with Brady while they were both holidaying in the same resort led to an extraordinary and unforgettable experience for the 52-year-old actor.

Jason got straight into the nitty gritty by asking: “How many completions did you get, and how many routes were you running?”

“I don’t know if they have a name...” Affleck replied to peals of laughter from the Kelce brothers. “I’m sure I disgraced every receiver that’s very run a route but to this day, aside from the birth of my children, that was the greatest day of my life”.

Affleck got animated just reliving the day, as he recounted his story: “I was like, dude I need someone to play catch with. I happened to be on vacation at the same place as him, and was like, ‘Do you wanna come down?’ I think he was like, ‘I’m gonna f***ing blow this dude’s mind. I’m gonna call him up’

“At first he’s like, ‘Okay, go out here, turn around’. And I’m running as fast as I can, I turn around, he’s been waiting 45 minutes... guns the ball at me. I caught it - ‘cos I was afraid of it breaking my nose more than anything else. After a few of those, he’s like, ‘Alright, we’ll put some air on. I was like, ‘No. No, it’s already plenty fast.’ ”

Thrown with pinpoint precision and flying through the air like a bullet, Affleck admitted that he was amazed by Brady’s throwing. “In a way you catch it as self-defense. I didn’t even think. It was whack! and I found myself with the football out of a reflex.

Let’s pretend we’re playing the Super Bowl

“But the greatest moment of that experience was, he had me running around, he’s thrown me the ball and it was amazing. I felt like a 10-year-old kid. He’s like, ‘Okay, come here. It’s the Super Bowl, fourth quarter, we have 23 seconds, it’s fourth and 18...’ I was like (incredulous) ‘huh, huh’ He says, ‘Run! And just run straight. Don’t turn around. I’m gonna get you the ball’.

“I was like, ‘Don’t turn around?’ and he repeated, ‘Don’t look back’ I totally believed it, I felt like, I’m in the Super Bowl now. He calls it out and I start running. I don’t look back. I’m sure it seemed to him - ‘I’ve never somebody run in slow motion before... ’ To me, it was just as fast as you can go, I’m thinking, when’s this ball going to show up? And I could just feel right out in front of me - and it was a little far. I reached out and I have to extend, I f***ing catch the ball... I turned around like I’d won the Super Bowl!

“It was incredible - I called everyone I know - for two days I was on the phone. I think they thought I was lying to them. It was the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me and I’ve lived a full life full of dreams. Right in that whatever hour of playing catch," he ended.

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