Tampa Bay Buccaneers' QB Tom Brady Doesn't Hold Back on HBO's 'The Shop'
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers weren't the only team chasing veteran quarterback Tom Brady during last year's free agency frenzy to sign the greatest quarterback of all time.
Teams like the New Orleans Saints, who reportedly came close, along with the Chicago Bears and the San Fransico 49ers were a few organizations that we know went after Brady at the time.
While making an appearance on HBO's 'The Shop,' Brady spoke about one team in particular that apparently was interested and then suddenly wasn't when the sweepstakes to land him was coming to a close.
“One of the teams, they weren’t interested at the very end," Brady explained. "I was thinking, you’re sticking with that (expletive)? Are you serious?"
Brady didn't divulge which exact team or quarterback he was referring to. ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio reported Saturday morning that the team was not the Bears. Regardless of who it was, Brady clearly felt strongly about the situation when talking about the free agency process.
“Looking back, I’m thinking ‘There’s no (expletive) way I would’ve gone to that team," Brady said. "They said they didn’t want me! I know what that means! I know what that feels like! And I’m going to (expletive) you up because of that.”
In the end, Brady signed with the Bucs and helped lead the team to an elusive Super Bowl championship this past February, 31-9 over the Kansas City Chiefs. After capturing his seventh Super Bowl ring, Brady will now be entering his 22nd NFL season and he admitted his career is entering its final chapter.
"It's coming to the end," Brady said. "So much of it for me is about having perspective. After a while you go, holy (expletive) what happened? There were times when I was young and really enjoyed the moments of sports."
"After we won our third Super Bowl, I was really young like 25, I made some comment, 'Maybe there's more to life than this.' "And then we didn’t win a Super Bowl for 10 years and I was like ‘(expletive!) This is really hard.’ The next time we won the Super Bowl was the most amazing experience in my life because I had the perspective of not doing well and taking it for granted when it did go well."
Brady was asked about tennis superstar Naomi Osaka, who recently withdrew from the French Open while battling anxiety and depression. Citing her mental health, Osaka did not take part in media availability and exited the tournament.
Once a young up-and-coming athlete himself, Brady touched on her situation and shared empathy for her.
"You feel for the 22-year-olds, look there's a lot of things happening in their life," Brady said. "I went through a lot of things in my late teens, early twenties. I didn't know how to deal with a lot of things because there was no training guide for how to deal with what was happening in my life."
“Now as someone that’s twice her age, you have compassion and empathy for that," Brady continued. "You hope that she can deal with that because you wouldn’t want that to take away from her true joy of playing tennis."
While discussing Osaka, Brady recalled former Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch, who was notorious for not wanting to deal with the media. Lynch reportedly had been threatened with a $500,000 fine by the NFL if he failed to make himself available on media day ahead of Super Bowl XLIX.
“Like Marshawn Lynch, that was the most beautiful thing saying, ‘I’m just here so I won’t get fined.’ I mean, he put no mental energy into any question and he didn’t get fined for that,” Brady said. “It’s a very hard thing to do, I wish I could just go, ‘I’m just here so I won’t get fined.’ I’ve said that 50 times! I’ve never done it. One day I’ll do it before I retire.”
