Tom Brady Talks “Emotional Challenges”
December 23rd, 2020
Early in his weekly news conference today, Tom Brady said he’s faced physical, mental and emotional challenges this season.
So Joe followed up to ask Brady what an “emotional challenge” is and what that looks like for him in 2020.
“I think there’s things that happen on the field. There’s things that happen off the field. You know, emotionally, there’s a lot of different emotions that go into playing,” Brady said.
“And sometimes after you lose, you can be very discouraged, you could lose confidence. Other players could lose confidence. You could be emotionally drained from winning games. You could deal with off-field issues; I’ve had teammates that have gone through personal issues that, you know, affect them a lot. I’ve had personal issues that affect me with my, you know, different things that have happened in my life with family members and so forth over the last four or five months. So all of it is about being mentally tough, dealing with whatever you need to deal with in your life as a professional, and putting those things a certain place so you can still out and try and perform at a high level. There’s no two years that are the same. They’re all a little bit different.”
Joe is not about to speculate on family issues Brady dealt with this year. But it’s fair to wonder if they might have affected him earlier this season, since Brady did say they were during the last four or five months.
A lot about players’ personal lives crosses Joe’s phone/desk that never hits these pages. Examples include paternity disputes, restraining orders against violent girlfriends, family illnesses and Joe’s two personal favorites: a player who thought it was ok to steal a truck and one who got evicted from an apartment for not paying rent he certainly could afford.
None of this kind of stuff is unique to the Bucs (outside of the truck fiasco), so Brady is right. Players have to “put those things in a certain place” and be professional — as tough as it may be.
December 23rd, 2020 at 4:28 pm
Joe please give us a date when it’s ok for you to tell the truck story! Even if it’s ten years from now
December 23rd, 2020 at 4:28 pm
Belicheck took care of all that.. check your opinions, emotions and ego at the door.. you are now part of the machine!
December 23rd, 2020 at 4:37 pm
the bottom line is we’re always gonna be the “little chuckaneers” until we win another superbowl…
#WinOneForTheGipper
December 23rd, 2020 at 5:27 pm
I don’t like emo-Brady, it’s unmanly and beneath him.
December 23rd, 2020 at 5:31 pm
adam from ny – “chuckaneers”? That is incredibly lame, and I’ve never heard it before so I can only imagine what interstate restroom stall you read that on.
I’m just giving you a hard time, but that name really is offensively lame and if someone said it to me in person, not just trolling but thinking it was clever, I’d be triggered into kicking them in the balls, and I’d be 100% justified in my actions.
Also it was Dungy’s team that won the SB. Gruden put his stamp on the team after he got McKay fired and cut Lynch and refused to resign Sapp. That was Gruden’s “chuckaneers” — and they sucked, which is why Gruden was fired.
December 23rd, 2020 at 6:01 pm
And here I thought the only emotional turmoil a Buccaneer could have was after thinking back to all that overtipping at the Mons.
Or maybe watching your jet skis float away into the sunset.
I can’t believe football players might be human. Say it ain’t so!
December 23rd, 2020 at 6:04 pm
Bottom line…. Bucs win and in…
Ain’t s drop 2 Bucs win 2 …. GreenCheeseBastards
and Flock of Seagulls Go 1-1
Tampa Bradys #1 Seed🤔🥳👏🏻🙌🏻👊🏻💥🇺🇲
December 23rd, 2020 at 6:22 pm
Everyone always forgets that these people are humans like the rest of us and have problems. Now add a few million to the mix and the drama probably never stops. Couldn’t imagine being Brady and the constant harassment from everyone and their mom. 2020 has been one of those years!
December 23rd, 2020 at 6:23 pm
Brady was greatly appreciated by the fans and Robert Kraft. Bill never gave Brady the respect he deserved. I am not saying that’s his job but Brady toed the line and got others to follow. Bill’s philosophy is I can win with anyone at QB. He got his wish, how’d that work out? Brady’s insecurities are what make him so great, achieve no matter what it takes. Buc go to SB.
December 23rd, 2020 at 6:45 pm
Lol, so what does seem to be unique to the Bucs?
– beating cab drivers in the head whilst in a moving vehicle on I-275
– waking up in your front lawn on a mattress after a kegger
– (ahem) “Vaseline usage” in a Walmart parking lot
– 325lb D-lineman grinding on palm trees
– defensively crashing victory formation plays numerous times to no avail
– spreading MRSA around the locker room from ingrown toenails
Jeez I could go on but really don’t want to….
December 23rd, 2020 at 6:47 pm
TB and JPP are great examples and it is time for BA to give them the keys to the team these next two games
December 23rd, 2020 at 8:01 pm
“Belicheck took care of all that”
2020 First season apart and Belichek is 6-8…a LOSER without Brady. It’s the first time the Pats missed the playoffs since 2008…coincidentally the last time Belichek had to try and do it without Brady.
Belichik was 5-11 his first year with NE. Brady started just ONE game. The next year with Brady as starter those same Pats went 11-5.
Bottom line FACT. Bill Belichik is a losing HC without Brady…that is to say factually he has a losing record with both Cleveland and NE without Brady playing QB for him. It’s all just coincidence right?
BB is a defensive genius who is totally overrated as an HC. He had the luck of the IRISH when he found Tommy Brady. Belichik is not an Irish name and so it’s Brady that brought all the luck…and SB’s!
December 23rd, 2020 at 8:17 pm
Rod Munch, Gruden brought in Oben
n, Jurevicius, McCardell, Pittman and numerous others. There were at least ten new players.
The SB team was not Dungy’s team, and even if it was, Dingy couldn’t win the SB with them. That’s why HE was fired.
Gruden went 9-7 each of his last two years. They were 9-3 the last year before injuries do decimated the team, resulting in 4 straight losses, the last of which saw an injured Brooks letting a journeyman RB blow by him into the end zone.
Get your history straight. Or I’d be justified in kicking you in the balls.
December 23rd, 2020 at 8:25 pm
Many of these players are very young…..have been coddled at college….and now are stars making money….it doesn’t mean they have matured….and dealing with emotions varies by individual.
Others are mature….some from the beginning…..grounded, good parenting/mentored…….
I’m very happy to have a mature leader like Tom Brady as a Buc…..viva Brady!!!
December 23rd, 2020 at 8:43 pm
On the debate of Bill vs Tom, it may very well be that Tom contributed more, but in all fairness this Patriots team is decimated. Maybe drafting last or close to last every year caught up with them. Or could be other factors. But if Tom stayed at the Pats and Belichick came to coach the Bucs, I think Belichick would have had a better record this season than Brady. I really don’t think this season proved much, except that the two in combination managed to perform really well with the rest of the team being mediocre for the last three years including the Patriots super bowl two years ago.
December 23rd, 2020 at 8:47 pm
Joe,
I’m grateful that you choose to keep many things like that off of these pages. As a society, we focus too much on the negative. While these men are highly compensated professionals, we need to remember that many are very young and have not yet matured. I know there are things from my youth that I wouldn’t want spread across the internet. Thank you for your professionalism.
December 23rd, 2020 at 11:14 pm
Thank you Tom.
December 23rd, 2020 at 11:26 pm
ModHairKen – The offense literally had nothing to do with the Bucs winning the SB, that was THE best passing defense in the history of the NFL – and the stats back that up. If people want to argue about that, they’re wrong. It didn’t matter who got the job in 2002, the Bucs were winning a SB, the defense’s time had come and all the offense had to do was not lose it. Take the playoffs for example, the defense gave up 31 points total, but they also scored 28 points, all against top 8 offenses, including the #1 offense. So the defense gave up a net 3 points, not even including the Ronde TD in the SF game that got called back because Rice punched some o-lineman in the side of the head on the other side of the field during the INT return – and that includes the special teams giving the ball to the Eagles at their 20. That defense won that SB, Kiffin won that SB, McKay won that SB. Who didn’t win that SB? That would be Gruden and his mediocre, at best, offense. As for Gruden in his last years he still had Kiffin and a year in year out top 5 defense bailing out his mediocre offense.
December 24th, 2020 at 12:41 am
Rod, you said:
“It didn’t matter who got the job in 2002, the Bucs were winning a SB”
Or like Steve Mariucci (who was rumored to take over)?
For that matter, since you say that it didn’t matter who was coach, would Dungy have won it all if he had stayed?
The Bucs were in no way the odds on favorite to win it all that year. Looking at ESPN’s preseason SB predictions for 2002, out of 15 predictions guess how many said the Bucs were going to win it all? Zero, Not one person. Nobody.
Guess how many of them predicted the Bucs to reach the SB. Hint: Same answer as the last one. Nobody. Nobody was picking the Bucs to win it all.
Gruden deserves a hell of a lot of credit.
December 24th, 2020 at 3:41 am
Rod,
Just letting you know, Lynch was let go 2003. McKay 2004. Allen was hired to begin the 2004 season.
McKay extended Boogers contract leaving Nada for Sapp.