Brady gives wise advice to Mahomes after his ligament tear injury

The Kansas City Chiefs’ season turned into a complete nightmare. On Sunday, they were eliminated and, at the same time, lost Patrick Mahomes for the rest of the season. The 30-year-old quarterback tore his anterior cruciate ligament, an injury that inevitably brings to mind Tom Brady, who suffered the same setback in 2008.

Brady knows exactly what the rehabilitation process after a torn ligament looks like. For that reason, on the podcast SiriusXM’s Let’s Go, he offered advice to the Chiefs quarterback on how to return and maintain the same trajectory in his career.

“The only thing you can do is focus on what’s ahead and not look back,” Brady said. “And just say, this is part of what my career is going to be. And a lot of people have gone through it and a lot of people have overcome it. You just have to put as much diligence into the rehab process. And I always feel like the faster you rehab, the faster you can get back to playing the sport you love. I think sometimes people take their own pace. Instead of training mode, they’re in rehab mode. I think you have to get through rehab mode as quickly as possible, and then you get back into training mode. But that requires total commitment, and it’s the same commitment that great professional athletes make to be great at their profession. You need that same level of focus and determination.”

The parallels between Brady’s and Mahomes’ careers are striking. The former New England Patriots quarterback suffered his devastating injury at the start of his ninth season, the same point Mahomes has reached, and like Brady back then, the Chiefs star will now miss the remainder of the campaign.

For the seven-time Super Bowl champion, rehabilitation after such an injury is complex, which is why he believes Mahomes will need patience before returning to the gridiron.

“It’s a tough rehab. It’s one of the toughest rehabs,” Brady said. “I just remember pushing myself every single day. And it’s always the same amount of pain and discomfort, except you’re progressing through that pain and discomfort, which is a tough psychological thing to fight. You feel like every single day, you don’t feel good. Except you’re gaining range of motion and you’re gaining strength and you’re on the road to recovery. So I wish him all the best.”

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The key difference is that Brady had a full season to recover, while Mahomes has a far more limited window. According to medical experts, a ligament tear typically requires between six and nine months of recovery, a timeline that could leave Mahomes sidelined until close to the start of next season.

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