Tom Brady s astonishing football career shepherded the New England Patriots to nine Super Bowls. Though the quarterback said on his podcast this week that he isnt nervous on the field, Brady did need a little liquid courage before hosting Saturday Night Live .

Brady recalled Monday on the SiriusXM show Lets Go! that SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels rejected countless sketches he had rehearsed mere moments before he took the stage in 2005.

He was eating his popcorn or whatever the hell he was eating and he was like, No, scratch that, and, Not that, and not that, said Brady. And Im sitting there like, Man, we go on in 10 minutes!

While the football star said Michaels was so poised and promised they would get it right, Brady recalled anxiously muttering: I need tequila. Ive got to get down. Ive got to get changed. I need two shots of tequila before I go on. Like, lets get this thing going, you know?

Brady, whose appearance came after the Patriots won three of the previous four Super Bowls, nonetheless performed successfully. With rock star Beck as a musical guest, he joked at the start of SNL that he was more than a football player and proceeded to sing his way through his monologue.