It’s not every day you get to interview someone who’s worked with Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. But the other day I did. 

Fred Brennan, DO, FACSM, looks the part. There is a genial solidity about him, alongside a healthy I’ve-been-a-competitive-athlete glow that’s apparent even through the questionable medium of Zoom. He might easily be cast as a high school strength and conditioning coach or a minor league umpire. In fact, Brennan is not only an assistant director of the sports medicine fellowship program at the University of South Florida but a team physician for both the Toronto Blue Jays and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.This time around, our focus will be on the NFL portion of his career. Fortune — and Dr. Brennan — permitting, I’d like to talk baseball with him in the future too. 

But for now, let’s travel back just a few years to February 2021: 

Brennan, an ACSM fellow, is on the sidelines at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa watching his newly adopted team clinch the Superbowl LV win 31-9 over AFC champs Kansas City. The Bucs’ lineup is close knit, and the undisputed focal point of this now well-oiled machine is the no-introductions-necessary duo of quarterback Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski, formerly of the New England Patriots. 

The Patriots connection is deeply meaningful to Brennan, who was born in Boston and grew up in the area around Foxborough and Wrentham. He was a loyal fan and seems to recall the bad old days with perhaps a touch of both pride and pain. 

“When I was in college, it was not a pretty scene,” Brennan says. “It was very ugly: I could literally on gameday walk up to the ticket window and buy a couple of tickets because no one else wanted them.” 

He adds: “So when everybody was all over the Patriots about all the Super Bowls — like, sick of the Patriots — I was like, ‘Yeah, but you didn’t live through the years I lived through.’” 

But let’s return to that 2021 sideline.  

Now the Bucs are Brennan’s team, in that he isn’t just a fan but literally on the books. His stake is more personal: he knows these guys, not just Brady and Gronk but the whole lineup. He works with them. He helps heal them. He has to keep his head on a swivel on the sideline to make sure they don’t accidentally take him out during a play. (Brennan: “It’s amazing how fast these guys move and how strong they are. The speed that you recognize on the sidelines is twice as fast as what you see on TV when you’re right there, and they come out of bounds at 100 miles an hour. It’s like, Get out of the way, because if you’re not awake, you will be taken out. You really have to be aware at all times.”) The experience is present and visceral, not just a view from the living room couch or the stands or even the sideline itself but from inside the team’s interpersonal dynamic and even the physical persons of the players. He has a stake in this that words fail to describe. 

And then the Bucs win it big. 

Starting small 

Brennan’s introduction to sports, he recalls, was Pop Warner Football at age 8 or 9. He absolutely hated it and only played for half a season. (The author can relate, an unlucky pitch to the cheekbone having given him similar feelings about Little League baseball.) 

So in his freshman year of high school when his friends pushed him to sign up for football, Brennan was hesitant. But things clicked this time around, and he was able to collect some varsity facemask skids on his helmet by the middle of his sophomore year. He eventually walked on as a defensive back at the University of New Hampshire. The Wildcats are a D1 team. 

Now his feelings about the gridiron are much improved: “I really enjoy all sports,” he says. “But football is my passion for sure.” 

Brennan pursued biochemistry at New Hampshire as part of his premed studies, though the rigorousness of the program, as well as its daunting lab schedule, often interfered with football. 

“You know, you rush out of the lab as quick as you can to get to the locker room and practice has already started. You’re not warmed up.” 

Then from UNH it was on to the University of New England in Biddeford for his DO. (USOPC Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Finnoff, a fellow ACSM fellow, earned a DO from UNE as well.) 

Next came a family medicine residency at Albany Medical Center in Albany, New York, and then a primary care sports medicine fellowship at the Toledo Hospital’s Northwest Ohio Center for Sports Medicine in Toledo, Ohio. 

A military man 

But Brennan had joined Army ROTC while at UNH and earned a commission. He spent a year in the Army National Guard between UNH and his DO program at New England but then went into a deferred status for much of his schooling, his residency, and his fellowship, barring a handful of six-week stints working in a military hospital. 

“Then the military said, ‘Okay, you’re on a military scholarship for college, you’re on military scholarship for medical school. Time to pay back the piper,” Brennan says. 

His first overseas tour took him to Hungary and the Balkans. It was 2001, and his roles in the wake of the brutal and very recent conflict in the region were twofold: one, run a medical clinic on a U.S. military base in Hungary and two, assess the capacities of local medical centers around the Balkans to determine the level of care each might be able to provide injured American troops before they were airlifted to more substantial U.S./NATO medical facilities in Germany or Stateside. 

“I would go around with a lot of VIPs to the various hospitals in the Balkans and Croatia, Bosnia, Hungary to go through a checklist of their trauma capabilities,” Brennan says. “That was about a four-and-a-half or five-month tour.” 

In fact, he completed it only a few months before 9/11. 

Naturally, then, his second overseas tour took him to Iraq as part of the 28th Combat Support Hospital based out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He spent nearly six months as an ER doctor in a field hospital established 15 or 20 miles southwest of Baghdad, taking in casualties from across the country. His unit then took over a Coalition hospital in the Green Zone within Baghdad proper, where he continued to serve as an ER doc for another six months. After returning to the States, he eventually finished his active duty service as the director of the military’s sports medicine fellowship program. Following his active duty service, he joined the New Hampshire Air National Guard, 157th Air Refueling Wing, and retired in 2017 as the Medical Group Commander. 

On the ground at a bombing 

But his experience in Iraq served him well during another fraught historical moment. Brennan is a triathlete, and since 2009 had served as one of the chief medical officers for the Boston Marathon and the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. 

He was there for the Boston bombing in 2013. 

The Marathon has multiple medical tents, and Brennan was in charge of one about two blocks from the finish line. 

“The finish line medical tent took the majority of (the casualties),” he says. “But we heard it. We could see people running. We had the smoking coming through the streets and through the tent. And we did receive some shrapnel casualties and a lot of psychological trauma — people coming looking for loved ones.” 

I’d initially asked him whether his time in the military had helped him stay calm in traumatic civilian situations. That’s when the Marathon came up. But he adds: 

“My military experience definitely helped me keep the situation calm there. I told people, ‘Every five or ten minutes I’ll give you guys an update on what I know. But keep doing what you’re doing. Don’t leave the medical tent, and we’ll see what comes our way, and just be prepared for it.’” 

Signing with the Bucs

Brennan took the job with Tampa Bay subsequent to a leisurely southern migration. After his time on active duty, he’d taken on the head team physician role for his alma mater’s football team (2007) and joined a private orthopedic and sports medicine practice. But the latter eventually took a turn — some of the partners were considering selling it to the local hospital — and Brennan decided he should try something else. 

After living in Northern Virginia then New Hampshire, he and his wife decided to take a look at Tampa. Brennan had been to some conferences there and liked the area. He also missed academic medicine. So when he saw a position open up at BayCare in Clearwater, with a University of South Florida affiliation, he enthusiastically accepted. 

That was 2017. In 2020, the Buccaneers had changed up their medical staff, and the new head team physician, Byron Moran, also worked in the USF system. Moran reached out to a few of his colleagues, including Brennan, to see if they might be interested in one of the open roles. (In fact, the Bucs keep two orthopedic surgeons and two physicians on the sidelines at all times so there’s always someone watching if a player gets injured — the better to understand the nature and context of the injury from jump.) 

Brennan had the requisite team physician experience, and his time in the military helped too. He’d also been working for the Blue Jays for a bit (again, a story for another time), so he had professional sports experience too. He had a phone interview and then a week later an in-person interview. He got the job.  

Not long after, the news broke that Tom Brady had signed with the Bucs. Brennan’s phone was inundated with messages from New England buddies joking that he’d had a hand in the move. 

“I think it was March 10 when I signed with the Bucs and then there were rumors of Brady coming down to Tampa. And then Brady signed like, I think on the 17th. Like almost exactly a week after. And so now my phone’s blowing up: ‘Did you have anything to do with Brady coming out?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah. I called him. Hey Tom, come to Tampa. Guys, you’re kidding me right now. I had nothing to do with that. I’m thrilled that he’s coming, but I had nothing to do with that.’” 

An NFL doc’s day to day 

Brennan’s work with the Bucs is just one of his roles. But it still takes up a significant amount of his time. 

“It’s really sort of part-time full time, in the sense that you’re always on call 24/7,” Brennan says. 

He’s physically onsite with the team from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursdays but is otherwise always available for the athletic trainers to reach out to, or to give a player a physical or assess an injury. He keeps his work laptop with him when he’s at the Bucs’ facility so he can take care of administrative tasks in his downtime. 

Games, of course, are different. During the season, he’s always on the edge of the field when the team is playing. For an away game, that means a 1 or 2 p.m. departure on Saturday. Brennan gives a synopsis: 

“We’ll check in at the hotel. We’ll have an injury check in the training room with any athletes that need to be watched or are being treated by the athletic trainers or physical therapy folks. And then we’re just available if anything comes up, if anybody gets sick — and, you know, things come up when you travel. 

“Then we’ll eventually about 9, 9:30 in the morning on Sunday head over to the stadium for the one o’clock game. We’re all in the locker room by 10, about 3 hours before. Then there’s gameday and all that happens on gameday and after the game. Then we’ll fly back that night, and then usually the next morning we have an injury check. So anybody that got hurt, anybody that maybe got hurt — they’ll come in, and we try to see them the next morning to follow up on concussions or follow up on injuries.” 

I ask about the types of injuries he usually sees or expects, and whether they change throughout the course of preseason and the regular season. He shares that in the preseason it’s mostly strains and soft tissue injuries like muscle pulls. Hamstring pulls come to mind. Then as players begin to ramp up their training, he starts to see more chest, abdomen, shoulder and ankle injuries. 

But being in Florida, one of the main issues is heat. For the players who live and train in and around Tampa, it’s less of a problem; they’re acclimated. But some live elsewhere and train elsewhere, so their arrival in the hot and humid Big Guava area — if you’ll pardon the out-of-date nickname — can be quite a shock to the system. 

“They come back to Florida and forget how hot it’s been,” Brennan says. “Knock on wood, we’ve been very lucky with significant heat injuries. We’ve had some heat exhaustion, but no heat strokes.” 

Over time, however, the character of the injuries begins to change. 

“As the season goes on, you start seeing more of the other sort of wear-and-tear injuries. You start getting the knee injuries.” 

If you’re still inclined to think of NFL players as stoic types who keep injuries hidden, it’s no longer really the case, at least not in Brennan’s experience. 

“Most of them will let us know if they’re struggling a little bit. They’re much more aware that they want a longer career. So if they’re not 95% plus, I think a lot of them are like, ‘Listen, I’m not 100%. I don’t want to risk hurting myself more.” 

The same trend is true when it comes to concussions. Many players are willing to admit to feeling wonky after a hit or series of hits. 

“In the past they would say, ‘Oh, I’m fine, Doc. Let’s go. I’m ready,’” Brennan says. “I think all the education that’s happened in the awareness of concussions — in my experience so far, it seems like they’re more willing to share.” 

We chat about the Guardian Cap, how the novel, hobnail-padded headgear is now regularly worn in practice and how it’s beginning to be worn in games as well. Brennan thinks it’ll take off but that a trendsetter is necessary. 

“Someone with significant clout, respect, superstardom in the NFL will have to start wearing them, saying, ‘I wear it. I think it’s important,’ and then the average player — which is still an outstanding athlete and player — will say ‘Yeah. Alright.’” 

Treatment plans 

Brennan has a high level of respect for the athletic trainers and physical therapists he works with. The team’s certified professionals are well versed in training modalities and know where they can and can’t push. That means when it comes to an injury, the team physicians generally do an initial assessment and then tally frequent check-ins with the player as his recovery progresses. But much of the rehabilitation is in the hands of the cert pros. If the player isn’t recovering as expected, Brennan and colleagues might do further imaging to better understand the injury and rule out other issues. 

“But we put a lot of faith in especially those senior athletic trainers who’ve been doing this for years, along with the physical therapists and chiropractors and everyone else,” Brennan says. “There’s a big team of folks that work on these athletes constantly to keep them well and get them back to play. That’s the really neat thing about the NFL — the level of expertise and experience.” 

Later: “It’s fun to watch them in action with all the experience they have and the little tricks of the trade. And they keep current in the literature. The true professionals — it’s fun to work with them.” 

Big moments

We transition to career highlights. It goes without saying that the 2021 Super Bowl victory tops the list. It was Brennan’s first year with the team, and that’s pretty much impossible to beat. But on the way to that win, there was another highlight: 

“Winning the NFC championship against our boy who now plays for the Jets. Aaron Rogers. That was a big deal to win in Green Bay.” 

Meeting Brady for the first time was also big. 

“When I met him, it was one of those moments of, like, a little kid going, ‘Hi, Tom,’ you know.” 

But Brennan introduced himself as one of the team physicians and shared that he’d grown up in the Foxborough area. He thanked Brady for all he’d done for Patriots fans. 

“He’s like, ‘Oh, no problem.’ He’s a very humble guy. He’s one of those guys that when you meet him, he actually introduces himself: ‘Hey, I’m Tom Brady.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I know.’” 

He adds: “And Gronkowski was a great guy too. Very humble guy, very nice guy. I really enjoyed working with Gronk for those couple years too.” 

Gronkowski had some widely publicized rib injuries during that time, and Brennan assisted in his treatment, finding the 30-something tight end to be compliant with his recovery protocols, pleasant to work with and grateful for the medical care. 

Brennan’s experience with NFL players in general taught him that most are just, well, pretty normal. 

“When I came to work at that level, I expected a lot of egos, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised. Ninety-plus percent of the guys I’ve worked with have been real personable and friendly. You see a guy in passing in the hallway and he’ll give you a high-five. Just more down to earth and humble than what I expected.” 

A history with ACSM 

When it comes to ACSM, Brennan appreciates the college’s diversity of expertise. 

“For a primary sports medicine physician, there’s several organizations you can be a part of, and you know, I’m a member of a couple of them. The uniqueness of ACSM is its being multidisciplinary, with all the different exercise, sport, nutrition, physiology and primary care. And there are surgeons — I mean, it’s very diverse. 

“When you go to a national meeting like I did in Boston — which was nice to be home as well — you see all the different options of lectures you can go to.” 

Brennan recalls he joined ACSM in 1996, attending his first meeting and presenting a case: 

“I did an oral podium presentation on a guy who had a pulmonary embolism, which was kind of a wild case, and I’ve been a member ever since.” 

He’s also been an ACSM fellow for roughly a decade, and he counts a number of ACSM presidents among his friends — Tom Best, Bill Dexter, Bob Sallis and Liz Joy, just to name a few.  

I enquire as to whether he’s considering a run himself. He laughs in a manner I’ve come to recognize as a strong though tacit “maybe.” Of course, the assertion is mine, not his. 

Looking ahead 

But for the moment, Brennan, like the rest of the Bucs, has his “eyes on the prize.” 

“I think if you watch some of the Bucs games this year, I think it’s a tight group. Sort of the same feeling as the year they went to the Super Bowl — the locker room is very tight. You see them celebrate together, and they have a lot of talent. So, knock on wood, if we can stay healthy, which, you know how it is — sometimes the end of the season it’s not the best team in football, it’s the healthiest. 

“We’re just hoping that the injury bug stays away because there’s a lot of motivation and a lot of talent. If we can stay healthy, I think we’ll go far and hopefully to the big prize again. That would be amazing.” 

So the next time you’re watching a Bucs game, keep an eye on the sidelines and you’ll see an ACSM fellow at his post.