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‘Hanging over the side of the cliff’: Bill Belichick feared for Tom Brady’s safety at Pebble Beach Pro-Am

September 6, 2018

Tom Brady is used to getting clocked by giant linebackers on the football field. Despite that he has largely avoided injury in his long NFL career. It would have been a shame, then, if Brady had injured himself on the golf course in the offseason. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was worried that would be the case during a round at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Belichick joined Ian Rapoport’s “RapSheet and Friends” podcast and told a story about a harrowing situation involving his star QB and Pebble Beach’s par-5 6th hole.

According to Belichick, the pair were playing in a recent Pro-Am at Pebble went Brady hit his second shot near a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Brady’s ball ended up on the edge of the cliff, suspended above the beach and crashing waves. Instead of taking a drop or picking up, the ultra-competitive Brady decided to attempt the risky shot.

“I see a starting quarterback, a Super Bowl MVP, a league MVP literally hanging over the side of the cliff probably 200-300 feet above the ocean trying to hit a golf ball that’s a pretty meaningless shot because the pro already is going to do better than he would on the hole,” Belichick said.

Tom Brady during the 2010 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at Pebble Beach.
Tom Brady (left) alongside Tour pro Steve Marino during the 2010 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at Pebble Beach.

Despite thinking, “This is a crazy sight that I’m looking at here,” Belichick noted that such behavior was par for the course when it comes to Brady: “That’s Tom, he’s very, very competitive, very focused. Plays kind of fearlessly.”

The fear was real for the future Hall of Fame coach, though, and he felt a lot better when Brady’s caddie helped him off the cliff after his shot.

“I certainly breathed a little bit easier when he came up for air on that one.”