He still loves the challenge the shotput provides and has also improved in the discus–so much so that his throw of 50.17 meters last year placed him 10th on Harvard’s all-time list.
“They compete for my heart a little bit,” Brady admits.
In 2009, he qualified for the IC4A Outdoor Track and Field Championship in all three heavy throw events (the shotput, discus, and hammer throw), a rare feat considering most competitors don’t do all three at once.
Brady’s heart is fully with track and field, both now and in the future.
“I want to keep training, to see where this hammer thing takes me,” he says. “I want to play it out, see what kind of gains I can make...hopefully I’ll be able to volunteer at our program, just try to stay involved.”
His coach would welcome him with open arms.
“We’ve been working towards that process from the beginning,” Erickson says. “I’m very excited about that; it’s going to be great...my goal now is to help him learn how to coach.He’s definitely worked hard and been very dedicated to the program, and it’s been a joy to work with him.”
But his girlfriend doesn’t want him to hurry into coaching just yet.
“Sometimes he’s kind of a natural coach, so my advice to him is to try to see things from the perspective of the athletes,” she says.
“I want him to try to sympathize with other people on the team and to remain in the college moment before he’s a coach,” she says.
Yet being a natural leader seems something that’s always been innately in Brady’s blood.
“He communicates very well—that’s one of his strengths when it comes to both being an athlete and a captain,” Erickson says.
“He believes he needs to be successful to fulfill his captainship, which makes him better.”
“He’s someone who people really look up to,” Boyle adds. “I think he’s a great role model, especially for the younger athletes. He has a way of leading by example. He’s always the first one there and the last one to leave practice, he’s always there for anyone who has questions about the sport, and I think that extends to the rest of his life too.”
A shower, a change of clothes, and back across the river. Dinner, studying (today he’s reading about Charlemagne and eighth-century government), more hanging out, then bed–ready to do it all again tomorrow.