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Eli Griffith sat in the green room in the bowels of the Javits Center in Manhattan on the first day of Fanatics Fest anxiously waiting next to his family.
The Griffith family – father Joe, mother Jamie, and sister Ava – had been waiting all day for Eli to meet his favorite athlete, the one whose name is emblazoned across their Michigan Wolverines and New England Patriots jerseys.
Tom Brady.
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Eli Griffith got to meet his idol, legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady, at Fanatics Fest as part of Fanatics’ partnership with Make-A-Wish. (Enthusiasts/Make-A-Wish)
Fox News Digital was able to speak with Eli and his family before meeting Brady as part of the Fanatics and Make-A-Wish partnership, which continues to deliver once-in-a-lifetime moments. Eli was “absolutely shocked” after being asked about meeting his idol, but also felt there was a “connection between them” because of their roots in Ann Arbor, Michigan – where Brady rose to fame with the Wolverines before reaching what Eli called the “GOAT” status in the NFL.
“As the day goes on, it gets more and more. It’s like this moment when it happened, and I can just imagine him walking in the door,” Eli said.
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It finally came when Brady opened that door, and the family shared the quality time together that they had been looking forward to all day.
Brady caught up with Fox News Digital after the meeting, where Eli, already showing off his high school journalist chops, had some questions to ask the legendary quarterback.
“He didn’t want to be a journalist. He said, ‘I’m a journalist!’ I said, ‘Sure, you’re going,'” Brady said, smiling. “He had seven questions for me, and a lot of fun ones. He definitely put a lot of time and thought into it, and he asked a lot of good questions. A few of them I’ve never asked before.”
Tom Brady attends Fanatics Fest NYC 2026 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City on July 16, 2026. (John Nacion/Getty Images for Fanatics)
An honest conversation, some autographs, and catching fish with the whole family, Brady made Eli’s wish come true in the best possible way. But the Griffith family should know that Eli’s story serves as an inspiration to Brady as well.
“When I was a player, we did a lot in football training camp and we had a lot of good wishes over the years,” explained Brady. “Just the love of being able to impact people’s lives in a positive way. Most of these people are dealing with challenging situations – families and children. But they have bright spirits and very big hearts, and it’s just amazing to meet them, to get inspiration. They think they get inspiration from us – I think it’s actually the other way around.”
When he was 14, he was diagnosed with a rare heart condition. He had dilated cardiomyopathy on one side of his heart, and ventricular non-compaction on the other side. It was a rare genetic mutation that wasn’t noticed until he was a teenager.
As a result, Eli needed a heart transplant at CS Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor.
Eli Griffith received a heart transplant after a genetic diagnosis at the age of 14. Eli, in good spirits at the hospital, shows his Tom Brady Michigan cards. (Joe Griffith)
While in the hospital, Brady was shown a photo of Eli with a stack of trading cards from his days at Michigan spread across his chest, which Brady called “pretty cool.”
And while Brady is encouraging, so is the Wolverines football team as Eli and his family battle their condition.
“The Michigan football team really stepped up when he was in the hospital. The players came to visit him,” Joe Griffith said. “Charles Woodson yelled a lot. We had some communication with Jim Harbaugh, and we got a phone message from Harbaugh and a punter from the Chargers. [JK Scott]. Of [Michigan] In the locker room, the players make a small voice message to Eli. All this, made him happy. It kept us excited about things, like after the surgery, these three new guys would come from the team and visit him afterwards. The whole thing has had a lot of ups and downs, but compared to most things people go through, our downs weren’t as low as we could have imagined. “
It was the highest level of the Griffith family as they spent time with Brady, but it only continued on the Fanatics Fest floor after their introduction. Eli was next to Brady throwing out Tom Brady’s CardVault trading cards, while they all had a front row seat to Brady eating one of his favorite teammates of all time, Rob Gronkowski, in a dunk tank full of Raising Cane sauce.
Todd Graves, Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady attend Fanatics Fest NYC 2026 at Jacob Javits Center on July 16, 2026 in New York City. (Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Fanatics)
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A lifetime experience of a family that has faced hardships, but never wavered in spirit and hope.
“There’s a lot of people who take a deep dive in life, and we all face our own unique challenges and he’s a great kid. What a great spirit,” Brady said.
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