BROWERVILLE, Minn. — Around these parts, he’s known simply as “Tommy.’’
Always was. Always will be.
From Minneapolis, where Super Bowl LII will be played on Sunday between the Patriots and Eagles, some 140 miles northwest of the Twin Cities, lies a rural community that feels like it’s a planet away from the glamorous cosmopolitan world in which Tom Brady resides while winning Lombardi Trophies and living with his supermodel wife, Gisele Bundchen.
It’s in this no-traffic-light town with more vacant storefronts than those occupied with businesses that Brady’s mother, Galynn Johnson, grew up with her brothers, Gary and Allen, in the farm their late father, Gordon, owned across the road from a grassy airfield that consists of nothing more than a bright-orange wind sock.
It was on that farm where, after Galynn left town to become a flight attendant and met Brady’s father, Tom Sr., they would bring “Tommy’’ and his sisters for a two-week visit with their grandpa, cousins, aunts and uncles every summer.
It was on that farm where Brady and his three older sisters would help their grandpa milk the cows.
That farm, where 30 years ago Brady was squeezing udders, is just two hours away from where he’ll be trying to squeeze the life out of the Eagles in Super Bowl LII in an effort to win a sixth Super Bowl title.
“Browerville, that really is my roots and it’s very much a part of who I am,” Brady said. “My mom lived here for 18 years and I was very lucky to come here in the summer every year and the winter sometimes. My grandpa lived on that farm [and] it was a great experience for a kid from California to have this other part of my life that was still very special.’’
Galynn’s oldest brother, Gary Johnson, likes to say, “Up here is the origin of the G.O.A.T. That’s what I always say about my sister, Galynn. She was the origin of the G.O.A.T., with big Tom [Brady’s father].’’
Gary Johnson recalled one of the first times Galynn and Tom Sr. brought the kids to the farm.
“They were California kids,’’ he said. “They weren’t scared of nothing. I didn’t know if they could swim. My brother and I took them fishing and, God, all of a sudden there were four splashes and they were in 30 feet of water and I didn’t know what the hell was going on. They were out there raising hell, swimming.
“They could swim like fish — unbeknown to us. That was one scary moment. I had four of those kids out there and, my God, the ‘G.O.A.T.’ could have drowned.’’
The G.O.A.T. didn’t drown, of course. He went on to some pretty big things, which still blows the minds of his Minnesota family.
“We never dreamt that he would achieve what he did,’’ Gary Johnson said.
“Nobody could dream that,’’ Gary’s son, Paul Johnson, said. “I sit and try to fathom that, on the entire planet of Earth — I’m not sure what the Earth’s population is — there’s a handful of people on this planet that can say that guy, the greatest quarterback in NFL history, is a family member here. Sometimes that really boggles my mind.’’
Brady’s cousin, Paul, who goes by the nickname “Pickle’’ because he bought a pickle farm and sold pickles for awhile, now owns Paul’s Pawn & Bargains on the main street in Browerville. His pawn shop consists of a 160-foot warehouse that’s overflowing with so much stuff that it looks like a dump truck came and emptied its contents into the building.
Though his website handle is “Pickleboy.com,’’ Paul is out of the pickle business. As his business slogan reads: “I Buy & Sell Everything Except Pickles!’’
On Patriots game days, Paul Johnson, his two sons, his father and some other family gather in a large metal building — he calls it his “man cave” — adjacent to his house. Inside is a large TV screen, a couch and some chairs, along with about a dozen stuffed deer heads on the wall — and a lot of Patriots memorabilia.
“My best memories with Tommy are going out fishing and catching a bunch of sunfish and then having these big fish fries, and then listening to all the adults play cards ’til wee hours in the morning,’’ Paul said. “Grandpa’s house is a modest farm house and had no air conditioning, so we were all spread out on the floor — us, the Brady kids trying to sleep near these old box fans, and the cards are flying in the kitchen.’’
Brady on Tuesday fondly recalled his those days of innocence on the 300-acre property.
“Some of my greatest memories were being on the lake with my uncles, my grandpa, my parents, my sisters,’’ he said. “We caught a lot of fish. We had so much fun.”
There was one day Brady recalled not having so much fun.
“I remember my uncles gave me chewing tobacco for the first time when I was really young,’’ he said. “We went sunfish fishing. On the way home, I said, ‘I want to try it.’ They said, ‘Look, if we give it to you, then you can’t spit it out until you get home.’
“It was like a 30-minute drive back to my grandpa’s farm. So, of course, they give it to me and within five minutes, I’m outside of the car throwing up all over the place. I don’t think I’ve had much chewing tobacco since then.”
Gary Johnson remembered his father saying to the Brady and one of his sisters, who also tried the tobacco, “If your uncle said to jump in the water you kids would jump right in.’’
“The kids were persistent and they wanted it,’’ he said. “It was a not a good scene.’’
Brady’s other uncle, Allen, who lives in his grandfather’s farmhouse, detected his nephew’s competitive drive at a young age.
“I played golf with Tommy — we’d play nine holes — and one time Tommy got upset when he wasn’t playing well and made a bad shot,’’ Allen, sporting a “TB12’’ hat and a gray Patriots hoodie, recalled. “He threw his club and Tom Sr. says, ‘You’re done.’ It’s unbelievable to see where he is now after seeing him back then.’’
One thing about Brady hasn’t changed a bit.
“He still wears the same hat size,’’ Gary Johnson said. “His head has never gotten big. The kid is phenomenal. He is almost a miracle.’’
Paul Johnson believes it runs in the family.
“That whole Brady family is humble and kind,’’ he said. “They don’t change the way they treat us and we don’t change the way we treat them.’’