Brady no fan of the hype
Believes expectations can be ‘a setup’
Tom Brady has been on five Super Bowl-winning teams and another that nearly went undefeated, but he’s not interested in comparing any of them to the current Patriots, no matter how much hype they get.
The Patriots quarterback yesterday explained that such expectations — especially in the middle of training camp — can be a “setup.”
“This team is so far from where we need to be, and we have so far to go,” Brady said in an appearance on WEEI’s Kirk & Callahan Show. “It’s really unfair to set expectations, to me in my mind. It’s really a setup, you know?”
To no surprise, Brady wasn’t interested in engaging in the 19-0 talk that’s surrounded the Patriots this summer.
“We need to be focused on so many other things than what people may think about us,” he said. “There’s so much improvement we need to make, and I love the guys that I’m playing with this year. It’s a totally different version of the team that we’ve had. We have our own strengths and weaknesses, but how the season plays out will be determined by what happens moving forward and . . . you’re talking about some magical years that we’ve had that may never be duplicated again. So it’s really unfair to compare any of that to what’s happened in the past. This team, we’ll be able to write our own chapter and hopefully it’s a good one, but it’s gonna be determined by the work ethic that we do and trust we have in one another, and we’re still a long ways from building that.
“That’s why we’re practicing, that’s why we’re in West Virginia (for joint practices with the Texans), that’s why we’re getting ready to practice against another good team, because we’re trying to get better. And we need it.”
Brady also opened up on the show about how just how difficult last season was for him as his mom, Galynn, dealt with cancer 3,000 miles away at her home in California.
“My mom has been such an important, supportive, loving, caring, sweet, kind, generous mom, and you want to be able to be there for her in moments like that,” Brady said. “You just do the best you can do from afar. Obviously with playing football it’s tough to do that, because there’s a commitment to a team that needs you also, and I knew that my dad was taking good care of her.”
Brady said that right now, his mom is feeling good.
“She’s doing really well,” he said. “She couldn’t be any better considering everything she’s gone through, and everyone in our family is so happy, she’s got some tests back that were really positive, and she’s on the road to recovery, so we’re all very happy with that.”
There was only so much Brady could do on the other side of the country last season — FaceTime calls happened on a regular basis, he said — and that took a toll. But his family and others provided him strength.
The experience allowed him to appreciate moments with his family a little more. Brady’s mom and dad surprised him at training camp last week. Then they surprised him again on Saturday when the quarterback’s wife, Gisele Bundchen, threw a surprise party and his parents, who he thought had returned home, showed up.
“These moments that we have, you really appreciate them, because when someone’s not feeling good, like last year at this time, we didn’t have any of those opportunities to do those things,” Brady said. “So it’s just nice to share it with them and with the people you care and love the most.”
Brady also credited his teammates for helping him last year, and no teammate may have understood his situation more than wide receiver Julian Edelman, who was captured by NFL Films motivating Brady by telling him “For your mom” as the Pats were completing their comeback win over the Falcons.
“When Julian said that, I mean Julian is one of my best friends and he knows everything I’m going through,” Brady said. “He knows my mood, he knows my energy levels and for him to say that in that moment, it strikes me. I’ll never forget that for the rest of my life, and the fact that it’s captured brings back some special memories, because we were able to celebrate that at a later point too. So it just shows the commitment Jules and I have for one another.”