38 years ago today, Terry Bradshaw used an alias…it was Tom Brady

Terry Bradshaw once apparently wished he was Tom Brady before Tom Brady even became Tom Brady.

Thirty-eight years ago today, the four-time Super Bowl champion and Hall of Fame quarterback had elbow surgery. Wanting to keep the procedure a secret he used an alias.

So on March 3, 1983 a “Thomas Brady” went to have a procedure done on his elbow.

“Tom Brady! How lucky am I?” Bradshaw told The Athletic in a brief interview before he said he had to return to work. “There’s no question he and I are linked at the hip — same initials, same number. I had hair back then. I was a sex symbol. I had it all going then.”

The injury that he attempted to have repaired was deemed “minor” at the time, but wound up ending his career. He retired after re-aggravating the elbow in the first game of the upcoming season.

The newer TB12 has surpassed Bradshaw in every way, now tallying his seventh Super Bowl ring at age 43. Bradshaw got his four rings before retiring at 36, jokingly pointing out that he was undefeated in the Super Bowl, while Brady has three losses.

“Then comes Tom Brady. I’m 4-0, Joe’s 4-0. Brady wins his seventh,” said Bradshaw. “Win eight, win nine, who cares? Now you take seven victories but you subtract his three losses and you come up with four. Four, four, four. That’s all I got to say and I got to go.”