"Who the f*** is Tom Brady" - When Mariners star Ichiro Suzuki was left untouched by NFL great's fame

Ichiro Suzuki once failed to recognize Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL. A two-time World Baseball Classic champion from Japan, Suzuki was sent a text by Brady in 2017, when the former was playing for the Miami Marlins.

Suzuki was taking part in spring training ahead of the 2017 season when he received Brady's text and subsequently asked his coaches about it since it was from an unknown number.

Brady, who already had five Super Bowl wins with the New England Patriots back then, is probably one of the most common household names amongst sports fans.

In 2018, The Athletic's Peter Gammons shared a story narrating the incident. As per the story, Yankees legend Alex Rodriguez had shared his fellow teammates' number with Brady, after which the latter texted Suzuki,

"One morning in spring training, 2017, he was in the coaches' room looking at his cell phone text messages. Ichiro told the coaches about one message he had just received from a number he didn't recognize. The guy said he'd gotten Ichiro's number from Alex Rodriguez, and that he wanted to come meet him and study his stretching system.

"What's the guy's name?" asked one of the coaches.

"Ichiro scrolled to the end of the text. "Some guy named Tom Brady. Who the f--- is Tom Brady?" - excerpt from Peter Gammons' news article

Suzuki is well-known for his rigorous pre-game stretches, which were essential to his ability to play at the top level for so long. The Athletic claims that Ichiro Suzuki has a nine-station stretching and exercise apparatus that he made for himself in Japan and takes it with him everywhere he goes.

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Ichiro Suzuki and Tom Brady started their sports journey in the big leagues in tandem

Ichiro Suzuki has been a Major League Baseball player since 2001. Brady got his first SB victory with the Patriots against the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI, which came in 2002.

Having started their sports journey in tandem, it was a little weird to digest the fact that Suzuki didn't know who Tom Brady was. Brady went on to win four more Super Bowls with the Patriots but Ichiro failed to ever win a Fall Classic.

Both athletes had immense stature in their respective playing fields, as Brady won a whopping seven Super Bowls while Ichiro went on to play for 28 seasons in the MLB.