Buccaneers' Tom Brady Delivers Inspirational Video Message to Class of 2020

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

Florida's graduating class of 2020 received a personalized pep talk from Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady on Monday afternoon:

Brady is seen now as a future Hall of Famer and six-time Super Bowl champion, but the 42-year-old took it back to his high school days at Serra High School (San Mateo, Calif.) to relate to the commencement's theme of adversity fueling greatness:

"I relate to that deep in my heart. In a professional journey that's lasted now going on 21 years of professional football, five years in college and four years of high school when I started playing football as a freshman on the freshman football team at my school in San Mateo, California. ... I'll tell you this: When I started playing, I was the backup quarterback on a freshman team that didn't win a game. 

"Our team was terrible, but not only that, I was so terrible that I didn't even get a chance to play. ... My journey in football started off, I would say, pretty slowly."

Brady called himself "a late-bloomer in many ways" and went on to chronicle his journey through the University of Michigan to being selected in the sixth round (No. 199 overall) by the New England Patriots in 2000.

The rest has been history:

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Brady departed New England for the Buccaneers during free agency in March. He signed a two-year, $50 million contract and will try to lead Tampa to the playoffs for the first time since 2007.