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Tom Bradysays the belief that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could win another Super Bowl under his leadership drove him to end his brief retirement earlier this year.
While speaking with co-host Jim Gray in an episode ofLet’s Go!, their SiriusXM show with Larry Fitzgerald, published Tuesday, Brady said he “felt like I had a little left” when deciding to return to the NFL less than two months into his retirement.
“I want to give it a shot — and I owed it to my teammates and our great coaches and our whole organization,” 45-year-old Brady saidon the show. “We built something pretty special here in Tampa the last few years. We were pretty close [to a Super Bowl run] last year, at the end of last year. We lost to the Super Bowl champ. They made a few more plays than we did in that game.”
The Buccaneers lost to the Los Angeles Rams 30-27 in the Divisional Round of last season’s playoffs, and L.A. went on to beat the Cincinnati Bengals and win the Super Bowl in their home stadium a few weeks later.
“You know, the competitive fire still burns,” Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion said on the podcast. “I want to get out there and I want to have a great season for everybody because there are a lot of people who have supported me along the way.”
“And I’ve always felt like I play for the name on the back of my jersey and I play for the name on the front of my jersey, which is the Bucs and my family.”
“I think they always see guys have better arms, guys move better, throw better on the run,” he said. “I think where do I really excel? I excel with my leadership. I excel with my dedication and discipline. I think mentally I excel. I do a very good job emotionally, staying poised when I need to.”
“Where people really miss the mark about me, and really mis-evaluate parts of, I would say, sports and competitors and skill sets in general — there’s too much weighting on physical, tangible things that are very easy to study,” he continued. “Speed or height or how high someone can jump. They misappropriate the value of somebody’s ability to learn, somebody’s ability to process information quickly. To be a leader. To show discipline. To show up every day as a really consistent player with a consistent attitude for the team, that’s a team player, that wants to win and wants to see the team succeed. I think those have really been my strong suits.”
Brady said playing quarterback at the University of Michigan helped him become a leader, and led to his success on the New England Patriots.
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“Then I transitioned to a new place a few years ago, and now here I am in my third season with the Bucs where I think we’re at a very good place,” he explained. “And I think a lot of guys have really taken to a lot of the sustainable traits in sports that matter. Your work ethic, your dedication, your communication. All those things that work over a period of time. I’m 45 years old. I’m still very happy to be passing footballs and not gallstones.”
The Buccaneers will open their first game of the 2022 season when take on the Cowboys this Sunday.
Let’s Go!will air every Monday on SiriusXM throughout the NFL season and is available on all major podcast platforms.
source: people.com
