Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots, is on a spiritual quest.

Football has become Brady’s religion, said Gotham Chopra, a filmmaker whose latest project is “Tom vs. Time,” a behind-the-scenes documentary series about the quarterback’s preparations for this past NFL season.

“What’s really at the epicenter of it is this devotional love for the game,” Chopra said. “It is his vocation—it’s what gives his life meaning and purpose.”

“I do want to know the whys in life,” Brady said in a version of the spiritual episode, according to the New York Times. “I do want to know why we’re here, where we’re going; trying to find that deeper purpose. To live it, through sports in a very authentic way, makes so much sense to me.”

For Chopra, son of best-selling spiritual writer Deepak Chopra and a devoted Boston sports fan, seeing sports as a religion makes sense. Both create community, have saints and rituals, and take place on hallowed ground.

And—in a polarized nation—both can unite disparate groups of people, at least for a few hours.