Eli Griffith was preparing for his exclusive interview.
The 16-year-old from Ann Arbor, Michigan – an aspiring journalist about to sit down with a hometown hero – went over the questions he planned to ask Tom Brady.
“He likes avocado ice cream, so I’m going to ask him about that,” Eli said. “I hope to do good.”
Brady walked into a green room at Fanatics Fest in New York City earlier this month and introduced himself to Eli – a granted wish made possible by Fanatics and Make-A-Wish just a year and a half after Eli had a heart transplant.
“As soon as he walked in, it felt like I could feel his aura,” Eli said of the former University of Michigan star and NFL legend. “It was just like, ‘Oh my God, there he is. What do I do?’”
Brady shook hands with Eli’s father, mother and sister – saying, “Hi, I’m Tom.”
“And then he’s like, ‘Hey, can I sit here?’ Eli said, with Brady motioning to a spot on the couch. “I’m like, ‘Yes, of course.’”
During many wish-granting meet and greets, it’s the athlete who asks questions to a starstruck and often speechless fan. Roles were reversed for this interview session.
Eli prepared seven questions and brought seven packs of trading cards. His plan was to ask each question while opening a pack with Brady, an avid card collector and shop owner.
Eli looked down at the pink notecard he wrote the questions on, his hand shaking. He flipped it over to the back.
“I wrote a little note to myself that said, ‘Stay calm, be a journalist,’” he said. “So that helped me.”
They opened the first pack, and Eli asked the first question: “How did you discover avocado ice cream?”
It was a healthy, dairy-free alternative to ice cream with great texture and flavor, Brady said.
“The first question is kind of always the most nerve-wracking,” Eli said. “But I feel like once he answered that, and once I got into a groove and, we were both kind of, like, enthusiastic. It felt like I was talking to just a normal person.”
Another pack, another question.
“Which defender struck the most fear in you?” Eli asked.
Ray Lewis, followed by Ed Reed, Darrelle Revis and Jason Taylor, Brady said.
Another pack, another question.
“Did your will power and competitiveness ever negatively affect your relationship with teammates?” Eli asked.
It was a level of intensity that was a little stressful for everybody, but it pushed teammates in a positive way to be better than they ever thought capable, Brady said.
“The first thing that he said was, ‘That’s a great question,’” Eli said. “And so, I feel like I’m proud of that one a lot.”
When there were no more packs to open or questions to ask, Eli gave Brady a magnet that included a picture of him in a hospital bed with Brady cards in his hands and laying across his chest. Printed next to the photo was a message thanking Brady for taking the time to meet him.
“You are one of my heroes,” it read. “From the time I was in the hospital to today when I got to meet you, Michigan athletes have given me hope, encouragement and a new perspective on life. I am forever grateful.
“Go Blue! With a big (new) heart, your fan, Eli Griffith.”
Born into Michigan football
Eli was born a Brady fan.
His parents, Joe and Jamie, both attended the University of Michigan – and his sister, Ava, starts there next year.
Joe attended the school at the same time as Brady in the late 90s – with Brady once even attending a party at his house as a guest of a mutual friend.
“He won’t remember me from anyone,” Joe said, “but he was the quarterback of Michigan in my house. So, that was pretty exciting.”
Brady was midway through his NFL career when Eli was born in 2010. He was introduced to his Michigan highlights on YouTube but did witness four of Brady’s seven Super Bowl championships.
“I grew up a Tom Brady fan,” he said. “My parents went to Michigan. They just influenced me so much. He’s the GOAT.”
It was the year after Brady won his final Super Bowl in 2021 that Eli experienced shortness of breath while running around at a camp where he was volunteering. Having had some respiratory issues when he was younger, but no signs of heart issues, his parents believed he had pneumonia.
“A couple days later, we let him go back after staying home,” Joe said. “And then he came to me and he was like his arm hurt, his chest hurt, and we took him to the hospital.”
He’d remain there for the next 46 days.
Doctors ultimately discovered a rare genetic mutation of his heart from birth that went undetected. Eli had a dilated cardiomyopathy on one side making it harder to pump blood to the body and a ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy on the other that prevented the left chamber from developing properly.
At 14 years old, he needed a heart transplant.
“It’s a shock to think that you’ve got a healthy kid his whole life, and then all of a sudden he’s got this thing that kept on getting more serious,” Joe said. “And then it gets to a point where we need to get him surgery, otherwise he’s going to die. There’s a window of time in which the pressures of his heart will continue to get too great, and if they get to a point, we cannot perform a surgery.”
Joe said Eli was fast-tracked on the transplant list.
“And then like on the fifth day, they’re like, ‘We got a heart. He’s going under tomorrow,’” Joe said.
He underwent a nine-hour surgery on Sept. 19, 2024, at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor and remained in the intensive care unit for two weeks.
“It was hard,” Joe said. “The recovery was hard, as well. He had all these tubes and things coming from his body. He was on steroids. He was in pain. But he recovered really fast. He was a healthy kid in all other ways. He was standing up on the first day after surgery and he worked his butt off on [physical therapy] and getting stronger.”
During his hospital stay, he had some special visitors.
A few weeks prior to his surgery, Joe went to a Michigan football team autograph signing event that he’d normally attend with his son. He gave the players small fliers that explained Eli’s story and said it would mean the world to him if they could reach out.
The next day, Davis Warren, the starting quarterback for that season’s football team, showed up at the hospital. He signed autographs and played Eli in a game of HORSE on a toddler-sized basketball hoop in the hospital.
“That was like really uplifting,” Eli said. “And it still feels very surreal. And I can’t believe it happened.”
Several other players came for a visit. He received video messages from others, including former Michigan star Charles Woodson and former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, who told Eli to “keep attacking with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.”
“All of that just made the experience in the hospital really pretty powerful,” Joe said. “It seemed like every week something cool was happening related to Michigan football that kept our spirits high.”
Eli checked out of the hospital on Oct. 1 – and was back in the stands at a Michigan football game less than a year later.
“They had never seen anyone recover and get out so quickly,” Joe said.
But there was still one Michigan football star he wished to meet.
‘My wish came true’
One month after partnering with Make-A-Wish, the Griffith family received a phone call that Eli would be meeting Brady at Fanatics Fest, a four-day sports fan convention attended by dozens of athletes.
“My wish came true,” Eli said.
Fanatics became the official sports partner of Make-A-Wish in 2023, with the two combining to grant their 1,000th wish in April.
“The impact that these experiences have on these families who are going through a really challenging time is truly it’s hard to put into words,” Tom Caillouette, senior manager of corporate alliance at Make-A-Wish, said after seeing Eli meet Brady.
Set to enter his junior year at Community High School in Ann Arbor, Eli said he had done 20 to 30 interviews at school in Tracy Anderson’s journalism class – most being with classmates or family members.
So, Brady wasn’t his first interview, but…
“He’s definitely the most famous,” Eli said.
He began the interview with the avocado ice cream to show that he had done his research without having to ask an overly technical question.
“He was very quarterback-like and answered all my questions with great honesty,” he said.
Were there any follow-up questions Eli wished he asked?
“Well, this is kind of more, I guess, somewhat selfish,” Eli said, “I would ask him if he could follow me on Instagram.”
He didn’t get a follow request notification, but he did get Brady to sign three jerseys, a helmet, photos and a card.
Brady also had a football catch with Eli and each member of his family.
“Nobody dropped it,” Eli said. “So that was really good.”
Brady said they had some athletes in the family, adding that Eli gets his throw from his mom.
“She was all proud about that,” Joe said. “She’s telling everyone in the world that she’s got the strongest arm in the family.”
What the family was told would be a meet and greet lasting around 10 to 15 minutes became more than an hour with Brady. He invited Eli to the booth on the show floor for his collectible store, CardVault by Tom Brady, to open more packs and maybe even ask more questions.
“How he has impacted the game on and off the field and how he still is with his fans, I feel like he’s always wanting to be a better person, a better idol,” Eli said. “And I feel like I look up to him even more after this interview.”
Eli returns to the hospital every three months for a check-up procedure. He gets regular blood work and remains on medications. He continues to overcome obstacles no child should ever face.
But that was out of mind, even if only for one day, as his wish came true.
“I’ll never forget this trip,” Eli said. “[It] was probably the best day of my life.”
And he means that from the bottom of his big (new) heart.
