SALEM — Imagine a world where Tom Brady had never been born.
Unthinkable?
Well, it almost happened.
Just after graduating high school, Tom Brady Sr. moved from his California hometown to Glen Ellyn, Ill., to join the Maryknoll seminary and study to become a Catholic priest.
"He was quite an athlete, too," said George Delaney, the former executive director of the Salem Mission.
Delaney knows because he was in the same seminary class as Brady and studied with him in the early 1960s.
"He was particularly a good soccer player," Delaney said. "Although, he was good at every sport."
Like father, like son, apparently.
"He was very much like Tom Jr. in the sense he was very affable, got along with everybody, very humble, hardworking, enjoyed playing sports and just one of those salt-of-the-earth kind of people. What you see is what you get," Delaney said.
Delaney eventually graduated from the seminary, became a priest and worked as an African missionary for 20 years in Tanzania. He came to Salem to head the city's homeless shelter and recently stepped down after two years.
Thankfully for Patriots fans, Brady left the Maryknoll seminary after a few years, married and — perhaps most important — had children, including the savior of the Patriots Super Bowl dynasty.
Delaney eventually lost touch with Brady, but the Mattapan native still plans to follow his old classmate's son this Sunday.
"We're going the whole way," Delaney said. "19-0. We're going to make history."
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