Given his distinguished career, one can say that Michael Phelps, the swimming legend, mastered the art of competing. Despite contending against the best athletes, Phelps retained his dominant position for decades with 23 Olympic gold medals. He trained both aggressively and mindfully and built his body and mind to sustain any challenge the competition threw at him.

A champion of such caliber might not need any support when he is challenged about something close to his heart. Phelps shared an incident in his autobiography, ‘Beneath the Surface,’ of his spontaneous reaction to his Australian friend who commented on his soft spot; football, which is his favorite sport in the world.

Michael Phelps defended NFL

Grant Hackett is an Australian three-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer. Phelps and Grant share a warm relationship to this date. In his book, Phelps shared that they hung out away from the pool and talked to each other about a lot of things. He recounted a trick Grant played on him.

It is where one puts a finger in someone’s chest and says, “What’s this?” and waits for them to put their head down. When they do, the one with a finger on the chest can lift the hand and slap their chin. Phelps tried to do the same. However, he couldn’t be tricked. Of course, “It’s hard to get a guy with his own jokes.”

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Furthermore, to add more spice, every time Grant teased him about American football players, Phelps would start ripping on Australian rugby players. Impossible to contain his love for the sport, Phelps went like “Are you kidding? If Ray Lewis hit any of those guys, they wouldn’t have a chance.” Taking a dig at Phelps’ comment, Grant replied, “Yeah, well, your football players have to wear all that padding. Our players don’t need it.”

Grant is grateful to Phelps

Phelps’ and Grant’s friendship is not confined to hanging out at the pool or kidding with each other. A victim of depression himself, Phelps helped Grant overcome a tough phase of life. In a 2020 interview, Grant acknowledged Phelps for virtually saving his life and also said Phelps was like his brother.

Grant said “Michael and I have always had a special bond,” and they’ve known each other for about two decades. He shared that Phelps would invite him to his Arizona home and stay with him and he finally did and lived there for nearly a year.

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Grant also added how important Phelps is in his life, “Anytime I go through something, he’s the first person to text me.” Furthermore, he said he had been there through all of Phelps’ ups and downs and vice versa. From being close at a swimming level to becoming emotionally attached, Grant said that they share a brotherly connection.