Tom Brady pays highest possible compliment to his 22-year-old niece Maya Brady

Ordinarily, Tom Brady would be considered the best athlete in his family. Anyone of his athletic caliber would be the greatest athlete of their name unless they were somehow related to Michael Jordan, LeBron James or Michael Phelps.

However, the legendary quarterback doesn't even believe that he's the best athlete in his own family. That's hard to imagine for someone who holds so many NFL records, but that's what he thinks.

He, Jim Gray and Larry Fitzgerald hosted A'ja Wilson on their Let's Go! podcast, and Gray mentioned Brady's athletic family. He said:

"I want to ask you [A'Ja Wilson], did you know who the best Brady athlete in the family is? It's Maya Brady. She plays softball."

He continued, listing her incredible accolades:

"She's an All-American at UCLA, one of the best softball players in the world. So don't be fooled by Tom with all those rings. Maya's got the whole family title."

Brady agreed:

"I agree, love that. Vastly outnumbered in the family which is a good thing too. So I get to learn from the ones that are my niece, who's a little bit younger, as well as my sisters.

The former New England Patriots quarterback gave credit to his 22-year-old niece, who he considers a much better athlete than he is. She is one of the world's best softball players and the podcast hosts agreed that she's a better athlete than the quarterback.

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Tom Brady is not the best athlete in his family

It is a layup to consider Tom Brady one of the best athletes of all time. He's a seven-time Super Bowl winner, and most athletes never achieve that level of success.

Tom Brady credited his niece

The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback didn't say he was even the best athlete in his family. Brady doesn't think he's the best athlete of that name, giving a ton of credit to his young niece.

He played in the NFL at the highest level for over two decades, so he knows a thing or two about being a great athlete. His word matters on this topic, so his opinion is probably true.