Tom Brady helps life-long mentor in search for new kidney

(CBS) - Heading towards his fifth Super Bowl appearance, Tom Brady is inarguably one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. But no one gets there on their own. The New England Patriots quarterback owes much of his success to his childhood mentor, Tom Martinez. The 68-year-old quarterback coach from California has tutored Brady for years, and now No. 12 is giving back. Martinez is in failing health and desperately needs a kidney transplant, and Tom Brady is doing everything he can to help in that search.

On his Facebook page, Brady has a picture of himself with Martinez and the simple message: "Without Tom Martinez, Tom Brady would not have been the quarterback of the New England Patriots." There is also a link to Matchingdonors.com, a website that helps connect people in need of transplants with possible donors.

Thanks to Brady's high-profile support, several donors have stepped forward. However none have been a match for Martinez and the search for a compatible donor is still ongoing.

According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, there are 112,754 patients currently waiting for an organ transplant in the US. However, from January to October 2011, only 23,749 organ transplant operations were performed.