Tom Brady: Bucs should have scored 50 vs. Bears
TAMPA — By any measure, Tom Brady had a pretty good game. He threw his 600th career touchdown pass, one of four in the Bucs’ 38-3 win over the Bears on Sunday.
But Brady is always striving for perfection and said he was angry on his drive home from Raymond James Stadium, knowing the Bucs should have scored at least 50 points.
“I think that pursuit of perfection is kind of the sickness, I would say,” Brady said of what drives him at age 44 on his Let’s Go! podcast Monday. “...There’s not the joy of the moment because as I’ve gotten older, I’ve wanted it to be perfect even though it’s not a perfect sport. It’s a little maddening, but at the same time, I think that’s what keeps us going. You try to be perfect in an imperfect sport.”
Brady held a virtual town hall of sorts with some of the nation’s top broadcasters and NFL reporters, a list that included Chris Berman, Scott Van Pelt, Adam Schefter, Jay Glazer and former Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald. A sampling:
Does he remember the touchdowns or the interceptions more?
“I definitely note the losses more than the wins but I definitely remember the touchdowns more than the interceptions. I actually remember a few plays. The really important touchdowns I really remember very vividly. The interceptions, I try to … like the Matrix …and erase those from my memory as quickly as possible.”
When will he know it’s time to retire?
“For me it is going to be about mentally, emotionally I’ll know, ‘Okay, I’ve done enough.’ And I don’t think my body is going to give out. I really don’t because I’ve kind of spoken about that ad nauseam, just about how to take care of myself. I really want to change how people think about sports and aging because I never saw myself as a prodigy. I really saw myself as someone who really has had to learn from amazing mentors over the course of my career.”
On Mike Evans giving away the football from his 600th career TD pass:
“It was funny because he came over to me and said, ‘I’m so sorry.’ And I said, ‘No worries. No big deal.’ He said, ‘I didn’t know, I accidentally gave it away, I didn’t know.’ And I said, ‘I well I may accidentally not throw you another touchdown pass all season, we better get that thing back.’ ”
On meeting young cancer survivor Noah Reeb:
“That was a great moment for me, especially. ... It was a really sweet moment with them, the father and son. The dad flew his son to the game. He’d gone through really tough cancer treatments and the fact he was at the game was really cool for their family and obviously great for me to see him. I did speak (to them) after the game; there’s so many people that do amazing things in the community and so many NFL players that do incredible things with their foundations.
“I think we all have the opportunity to give back in different ways. It could be a simple gesture. We all get a lot of different requests, but in the end, they all pay off and paying it forward is super important for all of us so it was a really cool moment for me to be a part of.”
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