Tom Brady Dreams Of Playing NFL Game In China
BOSTON (CBS) -- Tom Brady is currently in China as part of a promotional tour for one of his sponsors. But if his dreams one day come true, it will be his primary employer sponsoring his next trip to the country.
"My dream is to play a game here in China some day," Brady said. "We had an opportunity I think 10 years ago, and my team was going to play here. Unfortunately it didn't work out. But one day I hope that there are many games here and over the course of the year, because it's such a great sport and because I love it so much. To bring that here and to bring the discipline and to bring the incredible strategy involved, it's just a great event and hopefully a lot of the Chinese people would enjoy it."
The NFL, too, would likely enjoy spreading across the Pacific to the nation that accounts for 18 percent of the world's population. The league tried in the 2007 preseason to send the Patriots and Seahawks to Beijing, but it was postponed and then eventually canceled as the NFL focused most of its international efforts on playing in London.
Presumably, planning another game in China would take multiple years, and so if Brady's dream is to come true, he'll have to fulfill his other goal of playing into his mid-40s.
Though Brady's trip to China was related to promoting Under Armour, he clearly used it as an opportunity to promote his sport as well.
"American football is such an incredible sport," he said. "It requires tremendous amount of discipline, hard work, dedication, but most importantly teamwork. I'm a big believer in teamwork. There are so many football players that need to come together to learn and work cohesively in order to become a champion. So I've been very blessed to play on so many great teams. That's part of why I'm here is to help spread the message of American football and its place in this world."
