Sports

Brady admits nerves still a part of game preparation

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - DECEMBER 30: Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots looks on before a game against the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium on December 30, 2018 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Tom Brady answered questions Friday afternoon before the Patriots Sunday matchup in Kansas City.

Q: Both Bill Belichick and Julian Edelman spoke about being nervous before this game. After all these years, do you still get nervous for the AFC Championship game?
TB: Do I get nervous? A little bit. Yeah, a little bit. Probably more so during the week than probably leading up to the game, but more like Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, just as you’re preparing and trying to get to know the other team. I feel like the more I prepare, the less nervous I get because I can kind of expect how things are going to go a little bit more if I have a little more information on the team. So, the more film I watch, the less nervous I get, and as soon as the ball’s kicked off, there’s not too many nerves.
Q: As we approach the 25th anniversary of the day Robert Kraft bought this team, how fortunate do you feel that you’ve been here with this team?
TB: That’s pretty cool. That’s pretty cool. I know I’ve been here for quite a few of those years and the story of him buying the team was pretty cool. I saw it on social media earlier. To have the team still here and to have the kind of success we’ve had is really a great credit to him and everything he’s put together, his family. The community supports everything that we do. It’s such a great sports region and they support us, the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, so it’s been really fun to be here, especially for a California kid.
Q: When you prepared earlier this season for the Steelers and the Chargers, I assume you probably came across some of their games against the Chiefs. What did you think of Patrick Mahomes when you were watching him play against some of those defenses?
TB: Yeah, he’s had really a spectacular season, and you’re right. I remember seeing the [Los Angeles Chargers] game earlier in the year – I think that was their opener – and they played so well. And then they went to the Steelers and everyone thought, ‘Man, the Steelers are going to have this great season,’ and it was 28-whatever right out of the box in Pittsburgh and started watching, like, ‘Holy cow, how are they doing these things?’ And then you watch some of the plays that they were making and just explosive play after explosive play, and Patrick, obviously, making these great throws to Tyreek [Hill] and Sammy [Watkins] and [Travis] Kelce. They were running the ball to Kareem Hunt at that time. And they just kept it going all year, and they’re really hard to stop all the way across the board. They had just game after game of this huge productivity, and I think that’s what every offense tries to emulate is consistently, week after week, creating these explosive plays. Some of it is really player driven, some of it’s the scheme and the plays driven, but Coach Reid does such a great job of changing things up and giving a defense different looks and I think just the dynamic aspect of that offense. And then we played them in Week 6 and saw it first-hand how quickly they can score and how quickly Patrick runs around and throws it to Tyreek and whatever, 70-yard touchdown. So, I think that was great to play them earlier in the year and get a feel for some of that. Hopefully, we can all learn from it and take the things from that game that we’ve learned from and go out there and use them and try to play our best game of the year. This is a good time to do it.
Q: On championship weekend, you and Drew Brees are on one side of 40, and you’re playing against Jared Goff and Pat Mahomes, who are 23 and 24. Have you talked to Drew at all, saying, ‘We’ve got to beat these young whippersnappers this week?’
TB: Well, I was that age at one point, too. I mean, I remember pretty well – it’s a little while ago, but I still remember it – my first playoffs and having the experience to go to the AFC Championship game. It was different. I flew to Pittsburgh to do a press conference with Lawyer Milloy on Friday and waited for the team to come on Saturday. It was a little bit different. But, it goes fast and I’m sure it will go fast for them and their young career. Jared and Patrick have had great seasons, great offenses. And we’re still here plugging around, me and Drew, doing our thing, having a lot of fun doing it. 
Q: What role has good health played for your team this year?
TB: Yeah, I think we’ve stayed away from some of the bigger injuries, which we’re very fortunate to do. And you’re right, I mean, you know my belief on injuries. I think a lot of them are preventative. I try to take as much responsibility and accountability for my injuries as possible so that I can be out there. Sometimes you have bad luck in football. It’s obviously a contact sport. You can take a bad hit and that’s your season. Our team’s been very fortunate in that sense this year to not really take those things. The guys have done a great job staying healthy and trying to go week to week. Obviously, you need your best players out there, and the guys that you expect to deliver, you need them playing well. The only way to play well is to be healthy. If you have a bad whatever and you can’t do your job – if you’re a runner, run, or if you’re a thrower, throw, or if you’re a blocker, block – I mean, it’s hard to do on one arm or one leg. But, if you can feel good and you can feel like you’re trending always toward feeling your best for Sunday, I think that gives you a lot of confidence. Even some of the games we lost this year, I think you come out of those games and you think, ‘Wow, OK. A positive, we didn’t lose anybody.’ I think we’re at this point this year, and we’ve been pretty healthy to this point.
Q: What are you expecting from the Chiefs on Sunday considering that they want to get to where you guys have been?
TB: I think we’re expecting, really, what they’ve done all season. They’re the No. 1 seed. They’ve played really well against a lot of good teams. They’ve been in all these games. Even the games they’ve lost, they’ve been into them right to the end. They’ve had some close games, some close games at home. We’ve studied, obviously, all the games this season, and they’re good. They’re hard-nosed, they play in the Midwest, used to the cold weather. You saw in the game against Indy, they were obviously ready to handle it and Indy wasn’t, and it ended up being kind of a blowout. They play hard, they’re well-coached, good on offense, good on defense, explosive returners, veteran coaches, nothing’s going to surprise them. We’re both trying to get to the same place. That’s what the playoffs are all about. It’s going to be an exciting game.
Q: We know Patrick Mahomes’ history and the baseball background that he has. How did your baseball background and being a multi-sport athlete help shape you into the athlete and professional you became?
TB: Yeah, I mean, I always enjoyed playing all the sports. I still do. But, I think playing all the multiple sports was so great. You know, I played a lot of basketball, a lot of baseball, a lot of football, a lot of dodgeball, kickball – wasn’t very good in English or math or any of those things, but pretty good with the ball in my hands. But, yeah, that was great and that was a different time growing up where you could really focus on a lot of those things. Now, I think so many people are into these intense sports at such young ages, and I think the burnout factor for a lot of people and a lot of kids starting at a young age, that definitely happens. But, Pat, obviously you see his baseball background in some of his delivery. He delivers it from a lot of arm angles. He’s got a lot of whip from his throwing. That’s a good quality to have as a quarterback, throwing from multiple angles and trying to manipulate the rush and throwing lanes and so forth. But, yeah, I mean, we all take a little bit from our youth to try to use it as we get a little older.
Q: Is there an alternate universe where you’d end up as a Major League Baseball catcher?
TB: Nah. Nah, I fell in love with football, so that was the one for me.
Q: After all the success your team has had, is there actually a genuine feeling of disrespect in that locker room?
TB: I mean, we’re going against a team that’s the No. 1 seed in the league. I’m sure there’s a lot of people that are thinking they’re going to win. Everyone can have their own opinion. We certainly have an opinion, and we’ve got to go out there and execute our best in order to accomplish that. So, it’s going to be a tough game. I mean, we’re not certainly expecting to go 15 minutes into the game and think that it’s over. It’s going to go down to the end. They’ve got a great team. Like I said, we feel like we have a team that can compete well against anybody. We’re going to need to play really well, and that’s what makes for a championship game. Hopefully, we can have our best one of the year.  

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