Terry Bradshaw underwent elbow surgery under alias 'Tom Brady' in 1983, confirms NFL icon

Terry Bradshaw and Tom Brady appear to have more in common than just being star NFL quarterbacks who have led their teams to multiple Super Bowl titles. The legendary Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Famer, Terry Bradshaw, once reportedly checked into a hospital on March 3, 1983, using the alias "Thomas Brady" when he required surgery on his elbow. After 38 years of the incident, Bradshaw confirmed the story and even joked that he deserves some credit for Brady's success over the recent years. 

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Terry Bradshaw surgery on elbow in 1983: Terry Bradshaw hospital alias revealed as 'Tom Brady'

On Wednesday, Twitter account Quirky Research tweeted a photo of a UPI news article from March 3, 1983, with the headline: "Steelers’ ‘Tom Brady’ undergoes arm surgery." The Terry Bradshaw hospital story involved him using an alias to check into a Louisiana hospital to have minor elbow surgery. The article noted that the Terry Bradshaw surgery was about repairing muscle tears in his throwing elbow. 

Bradshaw was coming off a season during which he played in nine of Pittsburgh Steelers’ games in 1982. He had 1,768 passing yards and led the league with 17 passing touchdowns. However, he didn't play in the playoff game in which the Steelers lost against the Raiders that year as he needed surgery on his elbow. However, rather than checking into a hospital under his real name, Bradshaw attempted to maintain a low profile avoid fans and used the alias 'Tom Brady'.

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While speaking to The Athletic's Ed Bouchette later on Wednesday, the Steelers icon confirmed the 'Terry Bradshaw alias Tom Brady' story that was doing the rounds on social media on its 38th anniversary. The 72-year-old said, "Tom Brady! How lucky am I? There's no question he and I are linked at the hip — same initials, same number. I had hair back then. I had it all going then."

At the time, Tom Brady was just a five year old who dreamt of becoming like Bradshaw. However, the Steelers icon also joked that he deserves some of the credit for Brady's success in the NFL. "Everything Tom Brady has today is because of me, do you know that? Think about it. Every record he owns he had to go through me. Get used to that, Tom Brady."

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Remarkably, Tom Brady would make his NFL debut for the New England Patriots 17 years later after being selected in the sixth round of the 2000 draft. He has since gone on to become arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time with seven Super Bowl wins, five Super Bowl MVP awards and three NFL MVP awards to his credit. He is also the league's all-time leader in touchdown passes.   

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Image Credits - AP, Bucs Instagram