Legendary Former Michigan QB Tom Brady Helped Wolverines Flip Top NIL Recruit

The Michigan Wolverines got a very helpful boost in their recruitment of the best quarterback in the country.

Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

The Michigan Wolverines broke the college football recruiting news cycle this week when after months of trying, they flipped the consensus No. 1 high school player in the country in quarterback Bryce Underwood.

Underwood had been committed to play for the LSU Tigers since January of last year, but the Wolverines never gave up on the Belleville, MI native and at long last convinced the superstar who grew up just 30 minutes from Ann Arbor to flip on his pledge to LSU and stay home to quarterback Michigan.

While the reported NIL offer numbers were enough to make your head spin with some claiming Underwood got close to $12 million to flip, the Wolverines may have had a different very helpful boost in the pursuit of the future stud.

According to a story from CBS Sports, former Michigan quarterback and the greatest quarterback in NFL history now turned part owner of the Las Vegas Raiders and FOX color analyst Tom Brady had a large influence on Underwood's decision and the pair got acquainted over numerous FaceTime calls leading up to his decision to commit.

"The final pieces fell into place earlier this week when Underwood made a secret visit to Michigan on Tuesday and Wednesday," Matt Zenitz wrote. "He shadowed head coach Sherrone Moore at practice, sat in on meetings, and gained deeper insights into the program....Moore and Michigan general manager Sean Magee played critical roles in securing Underwood's commitment. But Brady's involvement provided an invaluable boost -- the latest contribution from Brady to his alma mater."

While undoubtedly Underwood was swayed by some sort of major NIL offer and is the most highly valued high school player in the nation by over $1 million as well as in the top-ten in college athletes without having taken a snap, there's no question as to whether Brady had some influence as well.

Credit to Sherrone Moore who is using every possible resource to his advantage in the pursuit of elite players to come play for Michigan. Having the best quarterback to ever play be a proud alumnus and someone that recruits grew up watching win Super Bowls is an edge that no other school his, and it sounds like Moore is capitalizing on his resources in Ann Arbor.