Not time to freak out
Live in the present like Brady does
FOXBORO — The fact that Tom Brady can become a free agent after this season has many people freaking out over the prospect of the greatest quarterback of all-time finishing his career in another helmet.
And Brady did in fact say on the radio yesterday morning that given his choice he would prefer to wear a different helmet.
Relax, it’s not the Patriots logo and all it represents that he doesn’t care for. Quite the contrary. It’s the new, safer version of equipment that the NFL dictates the players must wear that has Brady uncomfortable. Unlike Antonio Brown, Brady is not threatening to refuse to play unless he can return to his old hat.
Other than asking Brady a follow-up question on what specifically he doesn’t like about the new helmet, new WEEI morning host Greg Hill and his crew covered all the necessary ground with Brady. The quarterback answered the questions he felt like answering and gave the others the treatment he gives sack-minded monsters in the pocket: He sidestepped them deftly.
Hill wasted no time in getting to Brady and supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen putting their Brookline home on the market for 39.5 million, which is keeping those who don’t consider life without Brady at QB for the Patriots worth living awake at night. There is so much that can be read into the timing of the move, it coming on the heels of a contract that doesn’t pay Brady a nickel
beyond this season.
“I certainly hope not,” Brady said of people reading anything into the house going on the market. “You shouldn’t read into anything. It takes a long time to sell a house. I don’t know if you guys know, my house is a little bit of an expensive one, so it doesn’t quite fly off the shelf in a couple of weeks.”
If I were Brady, I’d sell my house every couple of years knowing that I would get way more than I paid for it and more than what it’s worth because some people are so wealthy and so celebrity-obsessed that they’ll pay a premium just to be able to boast that they walk daily the ground once traversed by famous people, which makes them rich and famous, onceremoved. Think about potential buyers of that ilk: If only they were interesting, they’d have it all.
Brady, 42, also professed his undying love for the Patriots while saying he’s not thinking about his contract: “I’ve been in the same place for a long time and I love playing for the Patriots, and I have such a great relationship with Mr. (Robert) Kraft and coach (Bill) Belichick and our team. We’ll worry about that when that happens. This isn’t the time to worry about it.”
Believe Brady when he says this isn’t the time to worry. Even if he doesn’t like that it’s a one-year deal — Why would he like that? —he won’t let it distract him from preparing for the season. He’s too smart, too experienced, to let that happen. He’s about productivity and that would be counterproductive.
“I don’t want to overlook the big challenge that we’re facing and I don’t want my mind convoluted with thoughts that are premature, ones that I’m worried about beyond what the current situation is, which is us trying to go achieve what we all hope we can achieve and that’s where my focus is and that’s what I’m excited about, so let’s go baby, put me in coach, I’m ready to go play,” Brady said.
Giving Brady a one-year deal with a raise made perfect sense for the Patriots, even though it exposes them to the possibility of him bolting via free agency. That’s such a minimal risk, don’t you think?
How could leaving the Patriots possibly help Brady’s legacy? He plays for the best coach in the NFL, a coach who always will field a team that has an elite defense, plays smart football and is put in a position to exploit whatever changing trends take place in the league. Winning Super Bowls is what floats Brady’s boat and advances his legacy. Playing for a team coached by Belichick, who when wearing his general manager’s cap somehow knows how to cobble together a deep roster that comes in under the salary cap, gives Brady his best shot at another ring.
Going to another roster wouldn’t be a good look for Brady, who always sports a good look.
My guess is Brady will remain the Patriots’ quarterback until he feels like retiring, or when Belichick thinks there is a better option, at which point the coach will proceed without worrying about anyone’s emotional reaction to that decision. The coach holds the cards. And the owner would be foolish to step in and try to tell him how to play his hand. All accomplished coaches prefer to shop for their groceries without interference. Why risk losing him?
So if, as is reasonable to expect, Brady has a strong season and remains the team’s best quarterback, he’ll sign another one-year deal with the Patriots. Brady hastakenlessmoneysothe roster can have more talent for his entire career. Why should next year be any different? Besides, even he acknowledges that at his age reaching his stated goal of playing at age 45 isn’t a given. He reiterated that goal hasn’t changed.
“Yeah, I do,” he said. “I certainly hope so. It’s a challenge. I mean, one thing, as you do get older, again speaking from some experience, it’s a big commitment and it’s a lot of energy I put into getting ready for practice, post-practice treatment, the mental part of the game, it’s just really working harder to keep my body in physical shape, you know that’s a big challenge.”
Brady makes playing without aging look easier than it is.
“I’m certainly not a robot,” he said. “It’s a lot of time and energy to prepare myself for my body to play. I love it. I love doing that. And I think that’s why I’ve been very fortunate to be able to play here as long as I have. But again, it’s a physical sport. There is no certainty. I’ve had longterm goals and I’ve said 45 for a long time, and I hope I can make it there. I’m close, but I’m just going to take it, re-evaluate after the year and see how I feel and hopefully I can just keep doing it.”
That’s everybody’s hope. Meanwhile, Brady must learn to adjust to the new league-mandated helmet.
“I’ve been experimenting with a couple different ones and I don’t really love the one that I’m in, but you know I don’t really have much of a choice, so I’m just trying to do the best I can to work with it,” Brady said. “You kind of get used to the same helmet for a long period of time and I did that. My last helmet I wore my last four Super Bowls so it was a pretty great helmet for me and I hated to put it on the shelf.”
Here’s a good idea for everyone who enjoys watching Brady ply his craft: Rather than stress over when Brady will put his final helmet on a shelf, live in the moment and enjoy his work while he’s here.
That’s what he does.