New England Patriots

Tom Brady admits he ran like a Clydesdale at the combine in 2000

Published Jan. 21, 2016 2:51 p.m. ET

Cameron DaSilva

Tom Brady isn't the fastest quarterback in the league. In fact, he's probably the slowest. He ran a 5.28-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine back in 2000, which obviously isn't "quick" by any means.

His longest touchdown run is 10 yards, which he set in 2002. He came just inches shy of breaking that career mark 13 years later on Saturday against the Kansas City Chiefs, but he was knocked out at the half-yard line.

Julian Edelman said Brady's "like a Clydesdale" on the field when he runs, and Tom doesn't deny that idea. In fact, he agrees with it, admitting he ran like at the combine 16 years ago.

Via MassLive.com:

"I probably looked liked a Clydesdale when I was running in the combine video 16 years ago so at least I haven't slowed down," Brady said. "At least I've maintained it, hopefully I've improved a little bit."

All jokes aside, Brady has made a conscious effort to improve his elusiveness and ability to move in and out of the picket. It seems to have worked, too. He's made several plays in the past few seasons in which he escaped the pocket or dodged a pass rusher and extended the play. It gives his receivers more time to work downfield, which helps the offense in a big way.

"It's definitely something I worked at a lot on the last couple years because I felt like that was becoming a real point of emphasis for me as a player to be able to extend anything," Brady said. "I think that's been a big plan the last two or three years was how to buy everybody more time. I think we've done a lot better job of that the last couple years than I did maybe four or five years ago. If it's to move to throw, I think that's always a good thing because we'll probably gain more yards than we will if I start running. But if I have to run, I think that can be a pretty frustrating thing for a defense, too, because they're going to say, 'How can I let this guy run? Of all the guys.'"

He'll need to avoid the rush this weekend as he'll take on the Denver Broncos' top-ranked pass rush. They led the league with 52 sacks this season, and they'll be looking to knock down Brady on every single dropback.