Tom Brady terrorized defenses for 23 long seasons; a huge reason behind that was his meticulous training. It never stopped at the film room or the practice field; it even reached into the offseason calendar, the living space, and even the dinner table of his wide receivers. Josh Gordon found that out firsthand when he came to the New England Patriots in 2018.

“He made us live with him in the offseason,” Gordon said in conversation with renowned YouTuber N3on. “Like, train right there, his wife making us food and everything like that. It’d be me, [Julian Edelman], and [Rob Gronkowski]… We would just do the craziest routine of like standing in one spot, and at least 50 times you just catching one specific pass.

“Alex Guerrero, his coach, is just holding the gun, like a speedometer for baseball, that was just clocking if it stays at 62 miles per hour… Meanwhile, your hands are just f****ng taking a beating… That’s about the craziest s***…. He’s obsessive, bro. That’s the craziest s***. When you see how hard people prepare.”

Gordon was traded to New England from the Cleveland Browns in September 2018, a move that put him in Brady’s orbit for the first time. That detail about Guerrero and the radar gun matters a lot, too. Brady was running a tracked, repeatable drill in his own home – the same ball speed, the same route, the same spot, 50 reps at a time.

Brady’s TB12 training system was built on pliability, resistance work, and movement precision. Guerrero was the instrument of that system. While he worked his way to the top of the game, it all started with coach Belichick himself setting the tone.

Belichick was relentless in leading the Patriots. During training camps, he’d spray water on footballs and everyone in the vicinity, even when it was raining. He also held everyone to the same unforgiving standard, and that’s exactly what made the Patriots the most dangerous team in the league under Belichick and Brady.

“It didn’t matter if it was March,” Brady said in an interview. “March was really important because March led to April, and April was really important because it led to May, and so forth, all the way up to the start of the season, all the way up to the final games of the season to prepare us for the playoffs. And then if we were fortunate enough to make it to the last game, we were so prepared because every day was important.”

Brady absorbed this system, won 6 Super Bowl rings with New England, and exported the philosophy to his receivers. And Josh Gordon needed that.

In Cleveland, Gordon posted a league-best 1,646 receiving yards in 2013, earned his only First Team All-Pro, and then watched his career unravel through suspensions. He missed all of 2015 and 2016 for substance abuse violations and played just 5 games each in the 2014 and 2017 seasons. By the time the Browns dealt him to New England, he was a talent looking for a reason to stay on a roster. And he found one.

That November, having seen the legendary quarterback in action up close, Gordon had shared a big vote of confidence in Tom Brady.

“It’s good to be able to be in such close proximity to learn from him,” Gordon had said. “I look up to the guy. He’s done everything right, so I just enjoy the time being around him.”

In 11 games with New England that season, he caught 40 passes for 720 yards and three touchdowns – his best stretch since his Browns All-Pro year. And Tom Brady certainly had a part to play in this.

The Patriots did not just have the quarterback who showed up to dominate Sundays, but also the one who tracked ball speed in his own living room in March. Josh Gordon didn’t sign up for that, but Brady didn’t ask, and Gordon got his one and only Super Bowl (LIII) ring because of it.