Tom Brady to Brandon Spikes: 'You Think I Play This S--t to Go to Pro Bowls?'

While most people would happily accept a free trip to Hawaii from their employer, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady isn't most people.

Former linebacker Brandon Spikes, who played with the Patriots from 2010-13, shared a story with Sports Illustrated's Robert Klemko after feeling like he was snubbed from the Pro Bowl team in 2012:

"I'd been playing off the charts. And I didn't get picked to go to the Pro Bowl. I was moping around, actually in tears, and a few guys were trying to lift me up, like, ‘It's gonna be alright man. We've got to worry about what's in front of us.’ Then The Pharaoh himself walks up to me—I used to call Brady The Pharoah and he hated that—Brady walks up to me and says, 'Hey B, you think I play this s--t to go to Pro Bowls? Get it together. Get your head up. We're trying to win rings. That's what it is here.' That's where I knew what kind of environment I was in, how blessed I was."

The irony is Spikes would have been able to play in the Pro Bowl if he were named to the team that season. The Patriots lost to the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game, one week before the NFL's annual All-Star showcase. 

Spikes recorded a career-high 91 combined tackles with six passes defensed and four forced fumbles in 2012. 

Even though Brady has been selected to the Pro Bowl 14 times in his illustrious career, he hasn't played in the game since 2005.

It's not entirely Brady's lack of desire to play in the Pro Bowl that he's frequently skipped the game. Seven of his 14 times being selected to the game have overlapped with the Patriots playing in the Super Bowl.