Tom Brady has accomplished some of the greatest athletic feats of our time. And now the seven-time Super Bowl champion is adding the 24 Hours of Le Mans to his resume.
Kind of.
Brady said on Wednesday that his Brady Brand will be a team sponsor for Hertz Team JOTA in a Twitter post where he tries out a race simulator and, let’s just say it’s a good thing he played football and wasn’t a racecar driver.
‘I got a new team,’ he said. ‘… When you think Brady, you obviously think speed.’
Maybe power. Maybe leadership. Maybe determination. But speed? Carry on.
‘It’s manual?’ he said in shock before virtually swerving all over the place in the Porsche 963 that the team will be taking to the endurance race. ‘… Everyone chill out. It’s my first day, alright?’
How is Tom Brady sponsoring Le Mans?
Brady Brand is the official apparel partner of newly-formed Hertz Team JOTA, which will participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and other races in the World Endurance Championship series. The company released a special edition collection to commemorate the partnership. Fans can purchase a black longsleeve T-shirt, hoodie or hat with red details.
‘The WEC is the ultimate test of endurance, focus, commitment, and teamwork, the same qualities that we continue to strive for in our relentless pursuit of greatness,’ the Brady Brand website said. ‘Fueled by a passion for excellence and pushing the limits of achievement, we’ve joined forces with some of the great leaders in their respective fields to form the ultimate racing team.’
“I have been a big fan of motor racing for a long time, and for BRADY to now be a part of Hertz Team JOTA as the future of motorsport apparel and design is an incredibly exciting opportunity,” Brady said in a statement. “We’re all looking forward to competing at the iconic Le Mans 24 Hours later this year.”
The former quarterback founded Brady Brand in 2021 and has worn the products himself, including a t-shirt that featured a photo of him as a child. Brady Brand sells T-shirts, sweats, pants, underwear and accessories and is now available on Amazon.
What is the 24 Hours of Le Mans?
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is celebrating its 100th year this season. It is an endurance race where a team of three drivers rotate driving a hypercar for a full day around the Circuit de la Sarthe in the South of France. Speeds can get as high as 180 miles per hour. The winner is the team that has driven the most distance at the end of the 24-hour period.
António Félix da Costa, Will Stevens and Yifei Ye, all of whom have raced in the event previously, will be Hertz Team JOTA’s drivers for the centenary. It will be held June 10-11.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is part of the World Endurance Championship, which starts March 17 at the 1000 Miles of Sebring where Hertz Team JOTA will make its debut.
The race is considered part of the motorsport triple crown, which includes the Indianapolis 500 and Formula 1’s Monaco Grand Prix.
What are Tom Brady’s ties to motorsport?
Brady is friends with seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton. The two hung out ahead of the Miami Grand Prix last year and have expressed mutual appreciation for the excellence they’ve exhibited in their respective sports.
NASCAR also paid homage to Brady in its Super Bowl ad this year when Jeff Gordon teased the return of a ‘seven-time champion who retired, a lot of you may know him as the GOAT. Well, he’s coming back to Florida for one more go at it.’
The build-up was hinting at Brady unretiring yet again for a fourth season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the plot twist was that the ad was actually referring to Jimmie Johnson returning to the Daytona 500.
