T.J. Braff enters the library at 9:45 on Monday morning, towering over the dozens of younger students chatting at nearby bookshelves and computers. Instead of demanding attention, he strolls leisurely to a chair at a nearby cubicle. A few minutes later, the librarian compliments Braff on his performance in last Friday’s football game, joking that the other team’s coach would want him as a player. He laughs before thanking her with a smile. He has no reason to draw attention to himself: Braff’s athletic talents speak for themselves.
Becoming a three-sport varsity athlete is a rare and honorable accomplishment at the high school level. Making one roster is difficult enough, especially at Palo Alto High School, where 44 percent of the student body participates in athletics. Braff (’11) has been on the varsity baseball, basketball and football teams since his sophomore year. During his junior year, he took a year off from basketball in order to focus on school and college recruiting in his other two sports. Now, Braff is part of all three starting lineups. To most, his athleticism is the most obvious reason for his varsity status. However, Braff’s work ethic, maturity and role as both a leader and motivator distinguish him from other varsity athletes. For these reasons, he belongs in a category entirely his own.
“[Sports] are something that I’ve always loved to do,” Braff said. “I would always try to have fun when I was younger. Even in close, nervous situations I’ve got to remember to have fun and that it’s just a game.”
Athletics have always been a central component of Braff’s life: his father, Jon Braff, played tight end on the Saint Mary’s College football team, and has always encouraged his son to experiment with different sports. Thanks to Jon’s college career, T.J. and his younger brother were introduced to football much earlier than most kids. His parents exposed him to tee ball soccer and basketball at four years old.
Even though he is no longer coached by his dad in Pop Warner football or Little League baseball, T.J. still recognizes his dad’s prominent influence on his sports career today. After each long day of school and sports, Jon and T.J. discuss the day’s practice.
“He has had a huge impact [on my career as an athlete],” T.J. said. “He definitely knows what he’s talking about. Just having someone there to talk to about different sports really helps out a lot.”
Jon has always encouraged his son to display his talents by pushing himself to the limit on the field, while keeping a modest demeanor.
“Working hard is something we talked about when he was young,” Jon said. “If you have a good game or you receive a certain award, never let that go to your head. Continue to work hard and be humble.”
Braff has relied on this advice since he first began playing sports and it has become instilled in his mentality as an athlete.
“[My dad told me] to always work hard and give 100 percent and never take plays off,” Braff said. “That’s something I’ve always tried to do: play every game hard and practice hard and pretend there’s always someone watching me.”
As he grew up, Braff developed a passion for football, basketball and baseball because he could depend on his teammates.
“With all of [the sports] that I play now, there is still that team chemistry involved,” Braff said. “I think an individual sport would be fun, but if you mess up, it’s on you. With baseball there’s still that individuality with you against the pitcher, but there’s still the team aspect involved. [Being a part of a team] is the big thing [for me].”
During football season, he is an active member of both offense and defense, playing strong safety, tight end, receiver and back-up quarterback. He plays forward for the basketball team during the winter and switches between playing first and third base and pitching for the baseball team in the spring.
Currently, Braff’s focus is football. He has proven to be a weapon early on in the season with five receptions for 64 total yards and two touchdowns on offense, and two interceptions and 33 tackles on defense as of Sept. 24th. Braff is confident in the capability of his football team as well as in his other teams.
“In all three of the sports, [the team] wants to win league and try to go as far as we can in the playoffs,” Braff said. “I know last year we won league, but [Paly football] lost our first game to Bellarmine [College Prep], and we definitely want to go farther this year.”
Braff knows that to achieve these goals he must work hard throughout each season, while fitting in training sessions during the offseason.
“I have first and second prep, so I always go in [the weight room] for football on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday,” Braff said. “I try to get in as much as I can.”
Not only is this extra training time for the sport in season, but Braff also keeps up his skills in his offseason sports in order to maintain his technique. This enables him to make smooth transitions from one sport to the next.
“Right now it’s football season and that’s usually what I spend most of my time practicing,” Braff said. “[I’ve learned that] it’s hard just to jump right into something [else]. Right now I’ll still hit [in the batting cage] and shoot around with the basketball. It’s really hard to stop one sport and jump to the next and still be in shape and ready to go.”
Although these additional hours sometimes leave Braff’s muscles sore, he motivates himself by remaining focused on the purpose of his work.
“Sometimes I catch myself feeling a little lazy or trying to get out of [working],” Braff said. “You have to think of the big picture. I know the only way to accomplish those goals is by hard work. [Those goals] are always in the back of my head when I’m doing something.”
It is this mentality that distinguishes Braff from other athletes: instead of viewing the extra work as a burden, he embraces it with the knowledge that it will only benefit him later on.
According to Jon, the thing that stands out most about his son is that he enjoys working hard.
“I always tell him: it’s nice when you can find something that you really like, so you like to work hard at it,” Jon said. “He knows it’s just kind of in him to do extra work…and he knows generally it’s going to pay off.”
Braff’s work ethic has also had a significant impact on both his teammates and coaches.
“He runs sometimes after practice with a couple of other guys and he’s always jumping in line [to be] one of the first ones [during drills], and helping people with other things,” starting quarterback, baseball teammate and friend Christoph Bono (’11) said. “He’ll even get water for someone if they need it. He’s always working hard and just trying to lead by example.”
Longtime friend and basketball and football teammate Charlie Jones (’11) has known Braff since first grade and understands that his extra hours of practice are necessary in order to achieve his goals.
“He works out with his dad before school [and] he works out after school,” Jones said. “He works really hard and deserves everything he works for.”
Paly head football coach Earl Hansen has known Braff since he joined the varsity squad his sophomore year.
“He tries to improve every day; he asks the correct questions,” Hansen said. “He has no complaints: he just plays. He’s outstanding both as a character and athlete.”
Braff’s self-motivation has revealed his athletic growth over the course of 14 years.
“It’s neat to see,” Jon said “He was always a decent athlete, but nothing ever really came easy for him. Growing up he always had to work hard. Now I’ve noticed the past two years in high school he’s continued to work hard. He’s started lifting weights, running and eating right, and I think that’s made a big difference for him.”
Hansen has observed both a physical and mental growth in Braff from when he first started playing football.
“He’s bigger and stronger, he knows exactly the level he has to play at now,” Hansen said. “Defensively, he’s much more aggressive and confident in what he can do.”
Both Jon and Jones believe T.J.’s familiarity with his sports has enabled him to loosen up and fully enjoy playing in games. This has also enabled Braff to distinguished himself as a commanding presence on the field
“Just recently in our last game…he was motivating people,” Jones said. “It’s cool because it’s senior year and he’s becoming a leader and that will help him when he goes on to college and wherever he takes himself.”
As is the case with any high school athlete, Braff still must focus on being a student. However, because he spends hours keeping up with his offseason sports during another sport’s primary season, Braff must overcome the challenge of incorporating both schoolwork and extra training into his busy schedule. Although the balancing act of managing the different aspects of his life seemed difficult early on, Braff has learned through experience, and developed a system that keeps him focused.
As T.J. has progressed through high school, Jon has noticed his son’s awareness of the importance of his schoolwork and social life greatly increase.
“Towards the end of his junior year, he realized the importance of academics and started to work as hard academically as he was athletically,” Jon said. “It’s challenging for him, but he does a good job of mixing in some social [time] too. I give him credit.”
As Braff takes on his senior year, he is beginning to look toward the future. After tackling four years of homework and high school sports, his passion for sports is far from exhausted. He hopes to maintain athletics as an integral part of his life.
“I’d definitely like to go as far as I can in a sport, and right now it’s between baseball and football,” Braff said. “I haven’t made up my mind which one yet.”
Though he has not yet received an offer, the future is promising for Braff. He has been in contact with the baseball coaches of Santa Clara University and San Jose State University, and received emails and letters from other smaller schools.
But for now, Braff remains a Viking. Alongside his teammates decked out in Paly green, Braff adjusts his helmet before joining the huddle. In the back of his mind are his goals for the game, the season, and the lessons Jon, his coaches and friends have taught him. He jogs onto the field, knowing that the combination of these lessons and his hard work will always remain a part of his athletic life.
