Head hits are part of the game, Brady says

Tom Brady doesn’t worry about concussions and considers them part of playing football, the New England Patriots quarterback says in an interview to be broadcast this weekend.

“I’m not oblivious to them,” Brady tells CBS Sunday Morning. “I mean, I understand the risks that, you know, come with the physical nature of our game.”

Brady’s wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, had said in a May interview that the quarterback has had unreported concussions and she worried about his long-term health. A joint NFL and players union investigation found this week there was no evidence Brady or the team failed to follow the league’s policies or procedures on concussions.

The network said co-host Norah O’Donnell interviewed Brady multiple times, both at his suburban Boston home and at his TB12 Sports Therapy Center near the Patriots’ stadium. Now 40, Brady repeated his desire to continue playing until he is 45 — something no non-kicker has done in modern NFL history. “I do want to go out on my terms,” he said.

The NFL has struggled to come to terms with the danger of concussions and the health risks they pose. The league this year agreed to pay as much as $1 billion to former players who have been diagnosed with post-concussion symptoms that could include the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

In light of a recent study that found CTE in the brains of 110 of the 111 former NFL players, O’Donnell asked Brady what he thought the effect would be on the league.

“I don’t know what the future is going to look like, you know, and I’m not going to pretend to predict it,” Brady says. “And I’m going to do everything I can to take care of my body in advance of the, you know, of the hits that I’m going to take on Sunday.”