India, July 8 -- Long before Tom Brady became the NFL star, the architect of seven Super Bowl titles, he nearly walked away. Not in his forties. Not after his final ring. But in 2005, at just 27 years old.

The reason? An elbow that had been haunting him since his teenage years.

"I loved football," he wrote in his recent blog post, "but a year or two into my pro career, I really wondered how long I could play if I was never going to be able to throw the football without pain."

"For my first eleven years playing organized sports, I had a very bad elbow. It started with going straight from football season to baseball season in junior high and high school, then it continued with all the throwing required. at the collegiate and pro levels,"...