Maureen Brady is a former standout softball pitcher, current traveling nurse, and the eldest of Tom Brady’s three older sisters.
Long before Tom became a seven-time Super Bowl champion and was widely regarded as the greatest quarterback in NFL history, Maureen was considered the true star athlete of the Brady family.
Tom himself confirmed this in a 2019 interview ahead of Super Bowl LIII, saying that Maureen was the best athlete in their family, a claim well supported by her record-setting high school and college softball career.
Maureen Brady Biography
She was born in the early 1970s in San Mateo, California, the eldest of four children born to Thomas Brady Sr. and Galynn Patricia Brady.
Maureen Brady is the oldest of the Brady siblings, followed by her sister Julie, born in 1974; her sister Nancy, born in 1976; and finally her younger brother, Tom, born on August 3, 1977.
Maureen and her siblings grew up in a household that was, by their father’s own description, full of enthusiasm for sports, with both parents encouraging all four children to pursue athletics from a young age.
She attended Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, and developed into one of the most dominant softball pitchers in California history.
Career
Maureen Brady’s high school softball career remains one of the most decorated in California history.
Pitching for Hillsdale High School from 1988 to 1991, she compiled a career record of 116 wins and 9 losses, according to the school’s records, along with 69 shutouts, 29 no-hitters, and 14 perfect games, a state record at the time that broke the previous mark held by softball legend Lisa Fernandez.
She graduated from Hillsdale in 1991 and was later inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2018. Maureen went on to attend Fresno State University, turning down scholarship offers from programs including UC Berkeley, Arizona, and Pacific to play for the Bulldogs from 1992 to 1995.
She helped lead Fresno State to the Women’s College World Series twice during her collegiate career.
In 1994, she earned All-American honors after posting a 0.98 ERA and leading the nation with 36 wins, propelling Fresno State to Oklahoma City, where she pitched a complete game shutout against UCLA in the team’s Women’s College World Series opener.
She was later inducted into the San Mateo County Sports Hall of Fame in recognition of her achievements and lasting impact on softball in the region.
Family
Following her softball career, Maureen Brady pursued a career in nursing and has worked as a traveling nurse.
She was previously married to Brian Timmons, with whom she has two daughters, Maya and Hannah.
Maureen has since raised her daughters largely as a single mother. She has spoken about making significant personal sacrifices, including long weekend drives for their athletic commitments, to give them the same opportunities in sports that she and her siblings had growing up.
Maureen’s daughter Maya Brady continued the family’s athletic legacy, becoming a standout softball player at Oaks Christian High School before starring at UCLA, where she finished her career ranked second in program history in home runs.
Maya was later drafted into the Athletes Unlimited Softball League in 2025 and has represented the United States internationally, including winning a gold medal at the 2025 World Games.
Her younger daughter, Hannah, followed a different path within the family’s athletic tradition, playing college volleyball at the University of Michigan, Tom Brady’s alma mater.
Siblings
Maureen Brady is the oldest of the four Brady children. Her sister Julie also played college sports, competing in soccer at Saint Mary’s College before marrying former MLB infielder and World Series champion Kevin Youkilis in 2012.
Her sister Nancy earned a scholarship to play softball at the University of California, Berkeley, where she competed against Pac-10 programs including Stanford, UCLA, and USC.
All three sisters were significant influences on their younger brother Tom as he grew up, and he has credited their competitive example as an important part of his athletic development.
All four Brady children were encouraged equally by their parents to pursue sports and other interests from an early age.
Her younger brother, Tom Brady, was born in San Mateo, California, the youngest of the four Brady children and the family’s only son.
He played college football at the University of Michigan before being selected by the New England Patriots with the 199th overall pick in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft, one of the most famous draft selections in NFL history given the career that followed.
Tom went on to win seven Super Bowl championships, six with the Patriots and one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and is widely regarded as the greatest quarterback in NFL history.
Despite his unprecedented success, he has openly and repeatedly credited his older sisters, particularly Maureen, with setting the athletic standard in the family long before he became a professional athlete.
