Patriots Talk: Brady's former roommates recall epic Tecmo Bowl battles originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Before Tom Brady even played a down in the NFL, his unmatched competitive spirit caught the attention of a couple of his New England Patriots teammates.
Former Patriots defensive lineman Dave Nugent and tight end Chris Eitzmann roomed with Brady after making the roster in 2000. The trio lived together in a Franklin, Mass. condo purchased from Hall-of-Fame cornerback Ty Law.
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When they weren't on the field, they were busy battling in the classic "Tecmo Bowl" football video game. Nugent and Eitzmann reminisced about those days at 9 Cherrywood Lane with our Tom E. Curran.
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"We would in the offseason come home from workouts and we would literally play Tecmo Bowl all day long," Nugent said. "That's the first time that I saw the intense competitor in Tom, because he hated to lose.
"We had these tournaments that would last all weekend long where it was if you won, you were the house champ. If he didn't win, we had dents in our wall from him throwing the controller against the wall. If he knew he was going to get stomped so bad, he'd stomp on the floor because it would short out the system and start the game over. That's when I first saw there was some intensity inside of that guy."
Eitzmann remembers Brady always looking for an edge.
"He would always try to cheat," he said. "He'd be the 49ers or the Raiders and always get the best teams. If he was losing, he was going to try to find a way to make sure the game didn't end."
Also discussed in this episode: Curran talks with Nugent and Eitzmann about the condo they shared in 2000. What was the mindset of a young Tom Brady, and did his roommates think he would go on to have such a successful NFL career?
Check out the latest episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast on the NBC Sports Boston Podcast Network, or watch on YouTube.
