Tom Brady Press Conference Transcript: Talks Going Back to Super Bowl with Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tom Brady: (00:00)
… just embraced everything that … Really, when Coach, when B.A. got here last year, there was a lot of great things that were happening, and a lot of great young players. I just made the decision, and love coming to work every day, with this group of guys, and I worked really hard to get to this point, and it’s a tough game.

Tom Brady: (00:23)
I’ve had a few tough games in a row, and the next one will be really tough too, but we know what we’re playing for. And we got two weeks to prepare. It’s going to be a great opponent, and be a really exciting couple of weeks for us.

Speaker 2: (00:35)
We’ll go to Jenna Laine.

Jenna Laine: (00:39)
Tom, some people said that you were taking one of the biggest professional risks of your career by coming to Tampa Bay, a team that hadn’t been to the postseason in over a decade. Yet you guys are one of the last two teams standing. Can you just put into words what it’s meant to be able to defy all those critics and naysayers?

Tom Brady: (00:59)
Well, this is the ultimate team sport, and we’ve had a lot of people work really hard, over a course of a period of time, to get to this point. So it’s a tough journey to get here. To go on the road, and win another road playoff game, is just a great achievement.

Tom Brady: (01:19)
And now, a home Super Bowl, for the first time in NFL history, I think, puts a lot of cool things in perspective. Any time that you’re the first time doing something, it’s usually a pretty good thing. Now we just got to go, and have a great two weeks prepare for whoever it is, and be ready to go.

Speaker 2: (01:36)
We’ll go to Greg [Greg Allman 00:01:37].

Greg Allman: (01:40)
Tom, you’ve talked about this team needing the defense, and leading on the defense at times this season. How big did they step up in the fourth quarter to mitigate the turnovers, to keep the Packers from doing more than they did?

Tom Brady: (01:49)
Yeah, they played incredible. I thought the defense was spectacular. And they’ve been that way all year. They got a great front, great linebackers, played their butts off in the secondary. Some guys went down with injuries, other guys stepped in, so it was an incredible effort by the defense, and what they did today was amazing against, really, an incredible offense.

Speaker 2: (02:12)
We’ll go to Jim Trotter.

Jim Trotter: (02:17)
Hey, Tom, I know a lot of folks want to focus on how you feel about getting to this moment, but I wonder if you could maybe put into perspective what you think this means for Bruce, after all these years, after stepping away from the game for a year, to lead a team to the Super Bowl?

Tom Brady: (02:32)
Yeah, I’m so happy for him, and absolutely, I mean, it’s amazing. I think for me, in my experience … I don’t think about what it means for me. I do think about what it means for everyone else. And it’s an amazing achievement for B.A.

Tom Brady: (02:50)
I’m so happy for him, the staff he put together, Coach Bowles, what Byron’s done, what Keith’s done. The whole coaching staff’s put us in a great position for us to go out there, and do our jobs well. It’s taken a lot of different people over the course of the season on offense, defense, special teams to come through, and that’s why we’re still playing.

Tom Brady: (03:11)
There’s going to be two teams left playing, and we’re going to be one of them. Again, just an incredible journey for all of us, and just proud to be a part of it.

Speaker 2: (03:18)
We’ll go to Scott Reynolds.

Scott Reynolds: (03:21)
Tom, congrats on the win. When you look at Bruce’s decision, this is a guy whose motto is “No risk it, no biscuit.”

Scott Reynolds: (03:28)
To go for it on fourth and four, rather than punt right before halftime, speak to that, and then, your touchdown throw to Scotty Miller, to really give you guys a big lead at halftime?

Tom Brady: (03:37)
Yeah. B.A. wanted to go for it, I liked the call and was, “I’m going to do whatever he asks me to do.” Then Byron dialed up a great play, and we got behind the defense.

Tom Brady: (03:46)
We had a couple other opportunities too, so it was just a great job by Scotty, running a great route, getting open. I just tried to lay it out there for him to go grab it.

Speaker 2: (03:57)
We have time for a few more. We’re going to go over to Sarah Walsh.

Sarah Walsh: (04:02)
Hey, Tom, we often hear from you about the process, and one game at a time, and never looking ahead. But when you think about scripting out these fairy tale endings, I’m curious as to, if you ever allowed yourself this season, when you came over to the box and knew the Super Bowl was at home, how often, if at all, did you ever allow yourself to envision this scenario that you’re in now?

Tom Brady: (04:25)
I think it’s hard to envision. This is a goal, but at the same time, it’s a week to week league. So we were at 7-5, seven games ago, not feeling great, felt like we needed to find our rhythm, and played four great games down the stretch, last quarter of the season.

Tom Brady: (04:43)
After that, it was just all bonus, and we just had to go play well. And we played well in Washington, played well all the way around in New Orleans and its great football team, and then came up here, knowing that we needed to play great.

Tom Brady: (04:54)
The guys came through, everyone stepped up to the challenge, and again, just a great … Football’s the ultimate team sport, and it takes everybody. And everybody plays a role. And just so proud of this whole team, and again, just blessed to be a part of it.

Speaker 2: (05:09)
All right, our last one’s going to come from Ira Kaufman.

Ira Kaufman: (05:13)
What can you say about the pass protection, during the last three weeks in particular, starting with the Washington team, and their front four?

Tom Brady: (05:23)
I think the last 19 weeks, the pass protection’s been amazing. The big guys up front have set the tone for us all year. [Ryan Katt 00:05:30], when he was in there, Stinnie came in, did a great job. Allie’s done a great job, Donnie’s played incredible, big Tristan’s done incredible, Joe Higgs come in.

Tom Brady: (05:40)
Everybody who’s been out there is doing a great job. Again, when they’re playing good, it’s, we’re great in the run game, and really solid in the pass game, we’re going to need another great week of it.

Speaker 2: (05:53)
That’s all for tonight. Thanks, Tom.

Tom Brady: (05:56)
Thank you guys. Appreciate it.