Tom Brady’s mentor Tom Martinez dies on 66th birthday
Tom Martinez, the mentor behind New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s success, died Tuesday, on his 66th birthday.
According to the New York Daily News, Martinez’s wife Olivia dropped him off at the Satellite Dialysis Center in Redwood City, California, just as she had many times before. Martinez had experienced complications due to Type 2 diabetes and had kidney issues for a long time, but dialysis had left him feeling exceedingly weak and drained recently. Martinez had been rejected by UCLA for a kidney transplant this past summer, although at that point he was only given a month to live.
Perhaps his passion for coaching kept him going for so long
Martinez’s time was often spent teaching football stars like Brady as well as college prospects. Through all the ups and downs, Martinez enjoyed every minute of it. In an interview from a couple months back, Martinez had told the Boston Herald, “It’s fun doing it. In life I happen to coach quarterbacks. If you teach somebody something, and to see that smile on their face, and the pleasure they get out of it, and if they throw the ball correctly and the enjoyment it brings, that brings joy to me. It puts a smile on my face.”
He had a passion for other sports as well. Martinez spent 32 years at San Mateo, a junior college in San Francisco. While coaching there, he garnered more than 1,000 wins in football, women’s basketball and softball.
Martinez worked with Tom Brady from his high school days up through this season, helping him with his throwing technique and form. With each and every success the quarterback had, credit was owed to Martinez as well.
“Without Tom Martinez there sure as heck is no Tom Brady,” Brady’s father told the Daily News.
“This is just oh, so sad,” added Martinez’s wife Olivia. “He had so much to teach people.”
