Tom And Phil: The Brady/Mickelson Longevity Connection

“There’s no reason why, at an older age, you cannot be your best.  It just takes a little more work.  I wasn’t getting results but I believe it and had people believe in me.”           —   Phil Mickelson

Tom Brady was basically discarded by the New England Patriots after the 2019 NFL season.  He came to Tampa and at the tender age of 43 and took a downtrodden NFL franchise to victory at Super Bowl LV — as in 55.

Brady brought a change in locker room culture and showed the world of sports that he was nothing short of spectacular at an age where most have retired from professional football.

Fast forward to last week at Kiawah Island where Phil Mickelson accomplished something equally mind-boggling.  He took on Brooks Koepka, head-to-head and basically pounded him into submission on an incredible PGA Championship Sunday that saw five dramatic lead changes.  In the end, it was Mickelson winning his sixth major at the age of 50 — nearly 51.

Brady and Mickelson are extraordinary in the fact that they have cracked the Longevity Code.

Mickelson was what you might call a little “fleshy” for most of his career.  Now he’s leaned out, has more muscle mass and is pretty darn strong.

The secret is really no secret:

“Food,” is what Phil refers to as his biggest sacrifice to change his body.

He’s taken that Tom Brady roadmap that centers on a more holistic view on nutrition and a very healthy lifestyle.

“I’ve got to eat a lot less and I’ve got to eat better. I just can’t eat as much and I have to let my body kind of recover. But it’s also been a blessing for me because I feel better and I don’t have inflammation and I wake up feeling good. It’s been a sacrifice worth making,” said Mickelson, who still suffers from psoriatic arthritis but has gotten that totally under control.

He takes a cue from Brady, who is extremely careful about what he eats and what he puts in his body.

“He’s actually a big motivation because of how hard he works to be the best and to elongate his career,” Mickelson pointed out.  Indeed, the two spent some golf course time together before their televised match from The Medalist against Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning a year ago.

Mickelson has also instituted a fasting regimen in his diet.  Specifically, Phil structures his eating around periodic fasts. He goes on longer fasts and shorter ones. He does three-day fasts every few months as a way of resetting his immune system.  He takes on the shorter fasts more often, saying after his final round of a tournament that he fasts for 36 hours straight once a week.  He alters his fasts depending on his playing schedule.

His formula:  1.5 days of fasting to cleanse and detox his body so it can recover, 5.5 days of healthier eating overall.

The results have been remarkable.

Phil has also taken the practice cue from Brady.  He’s worked harder at his game, keeping that incredible short game sharp — and it was totally world-class all week at the PGA.  His most spectacular shot of the final round and the one that basically speared Brooks Koepka through the heart, was his blast from the sandy waste area left of the par three fifth for birdie.

Brady’s already working out on his own with a number of players from his Tampa Bay offense at the New York Yankees minor league complex while newcomers for the Buccaneer are tackling OTAs at the Bucs training facility about 10 minutes away.

For Phil, his eating world is so very far different from what it used to be.

“I either wasn’t aware or didn’t want to know the things I was putting in my body, whether it was diet soda and how toxic that is, or whether it was the amount of sugar and how much inflammation it causes, or whether it was the quantity; all of those things, I just kind of shut my eyes to,” he recalled.

With those days behind him, we’ve just witnessed both the Tom Brady 2.0 and the Phil Mickelson 2.0.

Which makes everyone wonder — what’s next?