Here’s what Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady said to Tampa area media members Thursday:
QUARTERBACK TOM BRADY
(On how his Thanksgiving went)
“It was good, really good.”
(On if the biscuits he made for Thanksgiving were good)
“They were good. They were really good. They’re good. My daughter helped. It was fun. She’s good. She’s really advanced.”
(On playing against division opponents)
“I think just winning against a division opponent is tough. When you play division opponents on the road, it’s a challenging game. We’ve got four division games coming up. We didn’t do so [well] the last division game on the road, so we’ve got to take care of business. It’s a good team and a very competitive team [with] a lot of good players. So, it’s going to be a big challenge and hopefully we can go meet it.”
(On why he has won so many games in December in his career)
“It’s always the whole team coming together. I think that’s the best part about football. Over the course of a long season everything kind of shows itself and I think [it’s] the work ethic of the team and the commitment to getting better, the camaraderie. Some of those things don’t show up in the first four weeks of the season but over the course of a long season you get to see a lot of intangible qualities that I think good teams [have], which [are] caring about one another, making the right plays consistently. In the NFL any team can win one game. We’re all talented enough to do that. I think you could be relatively talented and go 8-8. But it’s hard to have a really positive record, and it’s always about the team committing to each other and the teammates caring about one another and consistently doing the right thing, putting yourself in a position to win.”
(On how he tries to connect with younger teammates)
“These guys are really easy guys to connect with. They’re just great people, great guys, just terrific players with great futures. I think for me, I want to see people succeed. I’m kind of at the end of my football journey, you know? There’s not a lot of football I have left, however long it goes, but certainly close to the end. But those guys are at the beginning, or just the middle part, so they’ve got a lot to achieve in their careers and I want to see everyone maximize their potential. For me, that’s the best part about football at this point, is watching other guys win. I’ve done a lot of winning. I’ve won a Super Bowl, I’ve taken care of family vacations. It’s nice to see other people do those things, too. Watching them be successful is what I think is the best connection you can make.”
(On his numbers suggesting there is a lot of football left in him…maybe not 20 years, but a lot)
“Not 20 years, that’s for sure.”
(On if those numbers extend the idea of how much he has left)
“Yeah, I certainly love the game and I love my teammates and I love practicing. I love the competition. I love the sport. I think what gets harder when you get older is you’re not 25 so there’s just a lot of other important things, too. I’m having a great time. I don’t want to start talking about retirement.”
(On what he takes from his relationships with younger teammates)
“I think everything. Like I said before, I think people think they learn from me, I think I’m learning from them. I think they’re teaching me things I didn’t know and teaching me about what’s going on in their life or what’s going on on the field or what’s going on with our team. Different things, and I think just being here and being available and listening – there is a problem when you stop learning. There’s a problem in life when you stop learning and I think you have to have the humility to understand you don’t know much of anything. I think you show up every day like everyone and you try to earn it every day and give your best to the team, give your best to your teammates. I think my teammates know I really care a lot about them. And I care about the success of the team, and I think that’s what every quarterback in the league should do. That’s the mark of a great leader when you have those things and I learned that from a lot of people over the years in different aspects of life, whether it’s family or a different business. Those are the qualities you need.”
(On the ability of the cornerback group to embrace the ‘next man up’ approach to injuries)
“I was thinking about that today. From the beginning of the season, halfway through, when Sean [Murphy-Bunting] got hurt and the secondary – you kind of have a plan of how it’s going to go and then they’re adjusting right from the start. Which is really challenging to do because you have six weeks of training camp where you’re kind of planning one thing and then two quarters into the fight, ‘Oh, things change.’ That was a significant injury. And now Sean’s back and then Carlton [Davis III] was out. That’s what teams have to do. You’ve got to find ways to adjust the situation and adapt to it, and I think the secondary is really – I can see them coming together more and more every week. Just their communication and hearing the things they’re working on or things they want to see themselves do a better job of is really fun for me to see. They’re kind of taking it, and the communication between the players is really important because ultimately we’re out there doing it. We’ve got to have a great communication between all of us so we’re all going in the same direction. Those guys are doing a great job.”
(On surprising some kids in Michigan on a call last week)
“That was pretty fun for us, too. It was really cute. The phone got handed to me and I just see all these kids on the screen and I saw that kids were taking pictures because it shows up on the phone: ‘So and so took a picture.’ It was really fun.”
(On what has impressed him about the job University of Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has done)
“It was great – I spoke to him on Monday, I think, and it’s just fun to see them kind of be back in the mix. I think it’s such a great program and I think sports are amazing for kind of bringing our communities together, and the state of Michigan and the state of Ohio and that rivalry. For us in Tampa, you see what winning can do for people. There’s a really enjoyable part of our life for all of us when we cheer for something and we invest our time and energy in something, and then we see like, oh, we’re a part of the joy and happiness of guys winning. Coach Harbaugh has done a great job, as always. It’s a very competitive landscape in college and it’s only going to keep getting more competitive. It was just great to see them win a really tough game over a great opponent.”
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Tampa Bay at Falcons, 1 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 5
Falcons at Carolina, 1 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 12
Falcons at San Francisco, 1 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 19
Detroit Lions at Falcons, 1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 26
