Matt Cassel Recalls Time He Wrestled Tom Brady and Patriots Teammates Freaked Out
Former NFL quarterback Matt Cassel spent the first four years of his NFL career as an insurance policy.
Picked in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL draft by the New England Patriots after barely playing collegiately at USC, Cassel patiently bided his time behind quarterback Tom Brady. Eventually, he got his chance, starting 15 games for the Patriots after Tom Brady suffered a season-ending ACL injury in the 2008 opener.
Cassel went on to even greater success with the Kansas City Chiefs, with whom he made the Pro Bowl in 2010. However, he recalls his New England days fondly, as he did while discussing one particular off-the-field incident in a Thursday appearance on the This is Football podcast: a wrestling match with Brady.
“I whooped him. I served him up some humble pie,” Cassel told podcast host Kevin Clark. “That was in my younger years when my testosterone was through the roof and I could lift and run and do all those things.”
The time Matt Cassel wrestled Tom Brady. Rodney Harrison and Richard Seymour broke it up to protect the franchise QB and Cassel thought they were going to beat *his* ass. Very few better storytellers than @M_Cassel16. This Is Football is so good today. pic.twitter.com/JagfTaiRSf
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) January 25, 2024
Like Brady, Cassel was an exemplary athlete selected in the MLB draft. The Montreal Expos took Brady in the 18th round in 1995, and the Oakland Athletics drafted Cassel in the 36th round in 2004.
“I would always be nagging [Brady] and stuff. He’s like ‘O.K., let’s go. I’ll kick your a– in wrestling,’” Cassel remembered.
Cassel’s subsequent manhandling of Brady quickly got his teammates’ attention—and not in a good way.
“I body slam him … and I’m sitting there. I hear two voices,” Cassel said. “’Get off him, Cassel! What are you doing?’ And it’s [defensive back] Rodney Harrison and [defensive end] Richard Seymour. And they’re literally jogging down the field at me. I think they’re gonna kick my a--.”
Harrison and Seymour let Cassel off with a warning, but their message was clear: Don’t dare endanger Tom Brady.