Chris Hogan on Tom Brady: ‘I’ve really bought into what he talks about’
Is Hogan a follower of the TB12 method?
Patriots wide receiver Chris Hogan says working with quarterback Tom Brady and “his guy” has changed his career.
Speaking to host Sean Delaney during a recent episode of the podcast, “What Got You There with Sean Delaney,” Hogan explained how practicing what Brady preaches has altered his training regimen for the better. The 30-year-old didn’t explicitly mention the TB12 Sports Therapy Center at Patriots Place or Brady’s body engineer, Alex Guerrero, but he gave a not-so-subtle shoutout to “the facility they have up there with Brady” and “his guy.”
“I mean, it’s changed my career,” Hogan said. “It really has. I’ve really bought into what he talks about and pliability and keeping everything fresh, and it really has. I do it every single day — sometimes twice a day. I don’t think I could play without it anymore. It’s amazing.”
Hogan told Delaney he used to be “a big proponent of ice baths” when he first entered the league in 2012, but hasn’t taken one in three years now. Some of his current treatment includes massages, needling, cupping, and normatech boots.
“I get my body work done, get everything flushed out,” he said, telling Delaney it’s something he takes “a lot of pride in” and can’t live without. “I know what I need to do to make myself and make my legs, most importantly, feel good.”
Hogan also told Delaney he has made some adjustments to his diet. In order to lower his consumption of foods that likely cause inflammation, he said he recently took some blood tests to identify which foods he is most sensitive to. He didn’t get into specifics about what he’s eating and what he’s not, but said he typically drinks shakes in the morning and has lean meat, carbs, or shakes in the afternoon — adding that the Patriots do “a great job of making everything available.”
“It’s stuff I never really thought about,” he explained. “Whatever I can do to get that recovery or that extra edge, that’s what I’m doing. During the season, nutrition is so huge. You can’t preach that enough at this level. I can’t go out there and just eat turkey sandwiches and hamburgers all day because that’s not going to make my body perform at the level that it can.”
Not only has Brady influenced Hogan’s training regimen, but the five-time Super Bowl champ has also led by example in other capacities. Hogan said both Brady and the New England Patriots organization as a whole have improved his mindset.
“That whole ‘Do Your Job’ mentality is a real thing,” he said. “Everyone really buys into it. When people come there, they come there to work. No matter if you’re playing football or a scout or whatever it is, everyone really does have that mentality and you pick up on it pretty quickly.”
According to Hogan, Brady is typically the first guy out to practice and the last one to leave. He lauded the quarterback’s routine and work ethic, saying it has been a “rewarding” experience to play with him and watch how he balances life and family.
Hogan also highlighted Brady’s competitiveness.
“No matter what it is, practice, I mean, he gets fired up,” he said. “I’ve seen this guy almost break a ping pong paddle because he was losing in ping pong. It’s fun playing with a guy like that, who just works so hard at what he does and cares so much about his profession.”
