Getty Tom Brady talked at length about facing his old team during his podcast on Monday night.
Tom Brady doesn’t want to turn this week into a walk down memory lane.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback is focused on the present moment — an upcoming game against the New England Patriots instead of his storied 20 years there.
“I don’t think this is the moment for that,” Brady said on his podcast Let’s Go! via ESPN’s Jenna Laine “I’ll have plenty of opportunities to reminisce about my football career — none of it, none of which I really care to do right now because I’m so much in the moment. I’m not going to be thinking about 20 years of history. I’m going to be thinking about one night of football, a Sunday night game coming off a really tough loss.”
GettyTom Brady gets helped off the turf on Sunday. Brady endured three sacks against the Rams.
Brady and the Bucs (2-1) suffered their first loss of the season in Week 3 against the Los Angeles Rams, 34-24. The Bucs won 10-straight games since a Nov. 29, 2020 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Though the Patriots (1-2) haven’t played at the level of the Rams this season, Brady and company know too well the danger of overlooking anyone. The Atlanta Falcons (1-2) pulled within three points of the Bucs before the fourth quarter of their Week 2 game. Dallas (2-1) nearly upset the Bucs on opening night.
“One thing I learned from the Patriots — Belichick would say, ‘Listen, if you love football, then, 8:30 on Sunday night at Gillette Stadium is the place to be,” Brady said on his podcast via Laine.
Belichick also became known for the phrase “on to Cincinnati” after Brady and the Patriots suffered an embarrassing loss to the Chiefs in 2014 but went on to win the Super Bowl that season. While the Bucs’ 10-point loss on Sunday hasn’t elicited similar overreaction, Brady can say for the first time in his career, “on to New England.”
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Brady on Belichick
Brady spoke well of Belichick on his podcast though the rumors of tensions between the two have swirled for years, as Laine noted. It’s been a speculated cause of Brady leaving for Tampa Bay in 2020, too, though Belichick said that wasn’t the case.
“Well I have 20 years — I have 20 years of being there and obviously he’s a great mentor for me,” Brady said of Belichick on his podcast via Laine. “And yes I think there’s definitely great lessons I’ve learned from him. He’s a great football coach, and he does a great job for his team. And, you know any player, I think they would just hope that their coaches give them everything they got. I’m sure every great coach wants every player to give them everything they got. And I think that’s what makes a great relationship.”
Belichick likewise expressed his appreciation for working with Brady for two decades during an interview this week, too.
“Tom and I, I feel we like had a good relationship and a lot of production, obviously, while we were together,” Belichick told WEEI. “I enjoyed coaching Tom, and he was a great player for us.”
Facing the Patriots Fans
For Brady, he expects a road crowd for 60 minutes of football instead of a pseudo ring of honor ceremony in Foxborough.
“I wouldn’t expect that — a homecoming,” Brady said on his podcast via Laine. “I mean, I think they’re there to root for their team, and their team is the Patriots. I think they’re gonna cheer for their team as I would expect them to, and I think if they know anything about me, they’re gonna know that I’m going out there to try to win the football game, so I think they’ll respect that about me.”