WEBVTT - Is this the end for Tom Brady? 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:15.480 I'm Red Lewis, and this is NFL inside Report. Following 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:19.120 a divisional round exit from the postseason, Tampa Bay Bucks 0:00:19.200 --> 0:00:23.800 quarterback in twenty two year NFL veteran Tom Brady at 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:29.680 least contemplating retirements at this point, after pretty interesting forty 0:00:29.680 --> 0:00:33.600 eight hours with news floating around about his retirement, and 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:35.680 now we're trying to make sense of it all, and 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:39.320 thankful for our colleagues Mike Giardi and Sarah Walsh of 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:43.720 certainly covered Tom Brady extensively during his career. Mike course 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:46.760 in New England, Sarah, these last couple of years here 0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:50.760 in Tampa. And let's start right there, Sarah, with that 0:00:50.840 --> 0:00:54.320 last game, Tom Brady walks off the field with virtually 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:58.160 no pomp and circumstance after losing to the Rams. Bucks 0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:01.640 eliminated from the postseason, Matt gayan to win it for 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:05.480 the Rams. Snap, ball down, the kick is up, and 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:09.280 a kick. Here's good. If the Rams are going to 0:01:09.319 --> 0:01:14.000 the NFC Championship game. And have we seen the last 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:18.760 the most decorated quarterback in NFL history, Tom Brady? Is 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:21.720 he done? And we're all left to wonder is this 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:24.400 the last we've seen of Tom Brady, How did you 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:29.240 assess his mentality is demeanor that whole day following that game. 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:32.400 If you watched him walk off the field in that game, 0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:40.080 you never got this sense that that was it. And 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:43.559 I say that only because I remember I specifically watched 0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:46.240 Byron left, which because it's like this moment that, um, 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:48.920 you know the season has just ended. You know, Byron 0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:50.760 is out there for head job. Like Byron could not 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:52.560 be back. There was a laundry list of people that 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:54.760 could not be back, right, Tom would be back at 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:57.080 the bucks if he's coming back. And so I watched 0:01:57.080 --> 0:01:59.760 Byron walk off the field. Then Tom comes after I 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:02.240 watch Tom off off the field, and there was not 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:06.960 a moment of a pause to either look around to 0:02:07.120 --> 0:02:09.840 take in this idea of like, this is the last 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:12.160 time I'm ever going to be in an NFL uniform 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:13.840 and and that's what I was looking for. And I 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:15.560 just go back to a year before, and I think 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:17.480 about Drew Brees, and I know Drew Brees was on 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:21.400 that farewell tour, right, but yeah, we had a moment 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:24.919 going out the tunnel and and and looking up and 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:27.720 waving to fans, and he went out and it was 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:29.920 a heartbreaking loss right in the playoffs, and and the 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:31.399 other thing if you think about is is the way 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:33.560 that the Bucks went out. I mean it was really, 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:35.560 aside from the Super Bowl, it would have been the 0:02:35.600 --> 0:02:38.480 most remarkable comeback when in Tom's career, right aside from 0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:40.320 what he did against the Falcons of the Super Bowl. 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:42.520 It was an insane game. The last couple of minutes 0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:45.440 of that game were completely wild. When Leonard four scored 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:47.839 the Touchdow, I just remember thinking, Oh my god, they 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:50.679 are now going to win this game. And so it 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:52.679 just all happened very quickly, right, It was like a 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:55.120 dagger to the heart really quickly. But I just remember 0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:57.320 watching him walk off and thinking, in the back of 0:02:57.360 --> 0:02:59.560 my mind, if this was a guy that was done, 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:03.640 wouldn't you have that moment of reflection. And I'm not 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:06.200 saying a big one, but just even the tiniest like 0:03:06.840 --> 0:03:09.080 look up, look around, And there wasn't. I mean, it 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:12.839 was just very business like jogs straight off, didn't really 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:15.400 look up at all, didn't really acknowledge anyone, just ran 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:17.440 through that tunnel and right off the field. So again, 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:20.840 if you're strictly speaking about that moment, I didn't see it. 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:23.040 I didn't see a guy that, after twenty two years, 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:26.000 in that moment was going to allow himself, whether he's 0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:29.880 retiring or not, he in that moment certainly didn't allow 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:33.360 himself to have that moment of reflection. He didn't show 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:35.440 it to us. Yeah, you know, I go back to 0:03:36.400 --> 0:03:38.320 and it was late in that season, his last season 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:40.640 with New England. They're gearing up for the playoff game 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:43.360 against Tennessee. As we know, his last game as a Patriotist. 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:46.960 Titans beat New England at Gillette And I had asked 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:49.120 him a question because the teammates have talked about a 0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:51.600 speech you'd give him. You know, some of your teammates 0:03:51.600 --> 0:03:53.840 were talking about you've given a speech before the game, 0:03:54.520 --> 0:03:57.000 and how he was reminding them to be laser focused, 0:03:57.000 --> 0:03:59.200 that you never know when these opportunities are gonna come 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:02.080 because the urgency and now we're talking about these are 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:04.800 playoff games essentially, and now it's really the time to 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:08.480 sort of buckle down and really put all the distractions aside. 0:04:08.480 --> 0:04:10.760 You can get to that later. And when I asked 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:13.440 him about it, he went in this long answer, I 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:15.760 try to pick the right time to express the things 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:17.919 that are important that I feel are important and He 0:04:18.000 --> 0:04:20.320 talked about the idea that when you're a younger player, 0:04:21.000 --> 0:04:25.159 it's so easy to um just concentrate on football generally. 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:27.760 You don't have a family, you don't have these business opportunities. 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:30.279 You're not You're just worried about being a football player, 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:33.039 making your money, getting your next contract. And then you know, 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:35.320 your life starts to mature a little bit more. You know, 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:38.839 I think everybody puts a lot aside. You know, I 0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:40.560 think we all do. We all have jobs, and you 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:43.479 know I don't have you know, I'm gonna you know, 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:46.560 I have a lot of grown up issues. You know, 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:50.279 you deal with kids and family and you know, life things, 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:53.039 and you know, a lot of younger guys don't. That's 0:04:53.040 --> 0:04:56.000 just a reality. And here he is at that point whatever, 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:58.800 forty one years old, forty two years old. He was like, 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:01.800 as an older Claire, you start to realize all the 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:05.039 things that you've left behind and you've sacrificed, and the 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:07.680 things that you've missed that you'll never get back. And 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:09.760 the longer you do it, you know, you try to 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:13.120 express to them that you know, these are these are 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:16.280 important things and if it's important for me to sacrifice 0:05:16.400 --> 0:05:18.320 for them, they gotta do the the saying. And that's the 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:21.080 reality of football is it takes on part of your 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:23.680 life because this is you know, you played for a 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:25.880 long period of time during the season. It's not you know, 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:28.560 their games are scared with every Sunday, so they take 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:32.440 precedent over basically everything else. And you know, it's just 0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:35.760 it's a lot of important things we're doing and trying 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:38.320 to do the right thing. And he's got three kids, obviously, 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:43.160 two different women. One lives in New York Gazelles with him. 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:45.719 Doesn't see the kid you're you're not You're not getting 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:47.960 to the plays, You're not getting to the basketball games. 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:50.320 There are certain things he's so regimented. You know, I'm 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:52.360 going to bed at eight thirty at night, Like there 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:54.279 are certain things that he's just not wasn't able to 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:57.440 do as a father because he was so single minded 0:05:57.440 --> 0:06:00.320 in this approach to win football games and be the 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:02.720 best that he could possibly be, that he missed all 0:06:02.760 --> 0:06:05.279 these things. So then when I heard him talk about 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:08.520 it in the aftermath of the loss to that in 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:10.800 that last game, and I was like, I really hammered 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:12.839 at home, Like this is something that he's been wrestling 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:15.400 with for a long long time, and I know he 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.479 said I'm gonna play until I suck. I said a 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:21.520 long time ago, when I suck, I'll retire. But what 0:06:21.600 --> 0:06:23.560 I really meant was, when you know I'm not capable 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:25.719 leading the team to victory, then someone else has to 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:29.480 do the job. But I always found that interesting because 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:32.680 Tom Brady will never let himself suck. He would never 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:34.800 get to that point. He would never be the guy 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:36.880 on the field who the other guys on the team 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:39.480 look at and go this guy, like, we can't win 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:41.320 with this guy. He was never gonna let it get there. 0:06:41.360 --> 0:06:44.920 So it's odd you maybe you want to walk off 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:47.919 with the super Bowl championship and all that, but to 0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:49.920 play as well as he did in the second half 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:51.680 and to push that team to where he pushed them, 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:53.800 and to finish with the numbers that he finished at 0:06:53.800 --> 0:06:56.520 the age of forty four, maybe it does make some 0:06:56.720 --> 0:06:59.000 sense that he had all this stuff that he had 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:03.000 compartmental eyes and had been dealing with. He just finally realized, like, 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:05.920 it's good. I'm good. I'm in a good place now. 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:09.080 Like I went out, I'm still playing great football. I'm 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:11.320 gonna be someone that people are gonna talk about in 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:13.920 the upcoming season if someone has a quarterback injury, well, 0:07:13.920 --> 0:07:16.440 Tom come back, You're gonna get all these things. And 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:18.920 like he's got all the things in his life now 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:21.120 and he can spend more time doing the things that 0:07:21.240 --> 0:07:24.120 he's missed over the last however many years. I want 0:07:24.160 --> 0:07:26.960 to go back to that twenty four hour period where 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:29.280 on a Saturday afternoon in the midst of what some 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:31.600 was it a record Mike, did we get record snow 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:35.840 in New England's let's just let's just say my back 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:38.640 is completely jacked right now and it's gonna be for 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:41.040 god knows how long. There was a lot of snow 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:44.760 removal that happened over the course of the last thirty 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:47.200 six hours, and I think Sarah even got some cold. 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:48.840 I think Sarah even had to put like a hoodie 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:53.240 on down in Florida because of New Engloaders don't want 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:55.280 to hear that. They don't like, Okay, I know you 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:57.480 guys want to hear this. It's actually been cold in Florida. 0:07:57.560 --> 0:08:00.320 Not not today if you see to worry, but the 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:03.680 that divisional game was called the wild Group for Floridians, Like, 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:05.480 let's take this all with like you have to have 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:08.120 a barometer of where you measure things. For Floridians. It 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:11.679 was cold. I woke up on Sunday Conference Championship Sunday 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:13.560 because their Tampa would have had a game here it 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:15.640 was thirty six. Because in my mind I was thinking 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:17.600 I would have been on I would have been on 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:19.880 Sunday morning if the Bucks were here hosting, and it 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:21.480 would have been thirty six degrees out and you know 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:24.240 what would have happened here, Mike, people would have literally 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:26.600 lost their minds. I would have gotten calls from my 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:29.000 mom being like, I don't think you're safe out there. 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:32.760 I mean, but you have to understand, like that's where 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:36.760 week down here. Yeah, I was walking the dog yesterday 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:45.200 I think was minus seven after the river, hanging out. 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:49.080 So I mentioned all that because, like I thought, you know, Mike, 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:51.200 Mike and I, for those who don't know, work together 0:08:51.240 --> 0:08:53.440 for five years in Boston, kind of not together. We 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:56.599 were more adversaries than anything. Um, but I worked. I 0:08:56.640 --> 0:09:01.000 worked for a somewhat competing local sports station in the 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:04.880 NBC in Boston, and um and I you know, storm 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:07.679 coverage is like a you know, it's a thing. It's 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:11.719 like hurricane coverage. Yeah, it's Hurricane Florida in Florida, it's 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:15.240 it's you know, blizzard, nor Eastern coverage um in Boston 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:17.880 is like an all day around the clock thing. And 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:21.680 so then this news comes out about Tom Brady is retiring, 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:25.200 and I'm like, oh my god, I feel for those 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:29.560 poor souls on Boston television right now who now have 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:33.160 to deal with blizzard and Brady coverage, which you know 0:09:33.160 --> 0:09:39.360 would be an all day thing there, nor easter that's 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:43.640 gonna like ruin question now. I mean, the blizzard is 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:45.520 still dominated. But I will tell you this, I know 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:48.199 of at least one station that when the news first 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:51.640 crossed about Brady broke in. But Mike, you did a 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:55.280 phenomenal job. You know, during that coverage, you jumped on 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:57.160 NFL network and you were part of our you know, 0:09:57.200 --> 0:09:59.760 our breaking news coverage as this was all unfolding and 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:01.439 are all trying to make sense of it all and 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:03.600 kind of giving some perspective to what you know, Brady 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:06.559 meant to New England in his career. And then you 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:10.920 also started getting some additional reporting in that you know, 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:13.719 kind of made us all go all right, is you know, 0:10:13.880 --> 0:10:15.679 is this happening? What's what's going to take us kind 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:17.559 of behind the curtain as to what those that twenty 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:19.600 four hours was like. As you heard the initial report 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:22.439 and then you start to hear some of the other stuff. Well, 0:10:22.520 --> 0:10:24.559 let me give you a little behind the scenes of 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:27.640 just TV one on one. Right. So I'm out there shoveling. 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:30.360 So I shoveled six or eight inches, and like I 0:10:30.400 --> 0:10:33.079 had just come in, so I'm like, I got I 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:35.440 got snots because let's face it, it's cold. You're freezing 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:38.720 my hands, like everything's you know, my hair is disheveled 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:40.719 because I got the hat on, I got gloves. And 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:43.120 then my phone goes off. One of our producers, Matt Hill, 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:45.280 we need you. We gotta, like you gotta get out there. 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:47.320 And I was like, dude, you gotta, you gotta give 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:50.360 me like ten minutes, and like I gotta. I'm not dressed, 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:52.840 you know, like I haven't all shaved, I've had nothing. 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:55.599 I'm a mess, you know. Um. But so then you 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:58.040 know we're and I'm like texting to people right away 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:00.360 and people are like, oh, I'm not surprised. You know, 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:03.319 we heard rumblings of it. And we're doing the report. 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:05.679 And as we're doing the report. Immediately you start to 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:09.760 get the well, wait a minute, Doan Yee, his longtime agent, says, 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:11.839 you know, no, one's no no decisions been made. You're 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:14.920 gonna hear that from Tommy when when when the time comes? Um? 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:17.199 And then I reached out to his dad, who as, 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:21.040 if you're in Boston, you well know his father likes 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:23.319 to talk and has at times been told by his 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:26.959 son to shut up pretty please. I guess it's the 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:30.600 nicest way you can put that. Um. But I was like, look, 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:33.200 this is one of those cases where I will reach 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:36.000 out to him just to see if he can shed 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:38.280 any light on what's going on. And he said basically 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:41.640 like this is all. I got the text right here. 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:44.559 I should just read it. Um. But I guess I 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:49.439 wasn't surprised because the long story is there's no way 0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:51.160 they were going to do this on a Saturday before 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:53.719 conference championship. But what he wrote back to me was like, 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:56.400 the story, Mike is total conjecture. Tommy has not made 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:58.920 a final decision one way or the other, and anybody 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:01.920 else that says that he has is absolutely wrong. So 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:05.080 then you're like, well, wait a minute, now, hold on, yeah, 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:07.000 what are we you know, so I you know, I 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:10.560 talked to Ian, Um, we're obviously talking with our producers, 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:13.199 and we still felt good enough about the information. Not 0:12:13.280 --> 0:12:15.439 good enough. He felt very solid and the information that 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:17.680 we had that he was in fact on a step 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:20.280 away just a matter of you know, timing, I guess this, 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:25.960 but it's certainly just raised even more uh swirling rumors 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:27.719 and what's going on and like what are we what 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:29.640 are we doing here? And how do we get that 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:32.079 to the to the end result here with with with 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:45.480 what Tom's gonna do. And then this last part, Sarah, 0:12:45.679 --> 0:12:48.120 you know, for you is that we talked a lot 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:52.080 about the way the language has changed in the way 0:12:52.320 --> 0:12:54.880 and in the last few weeks, maybe in particular this year, 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:57.160 and how Tom has talked a little bit differently about 0:12:57.320 --> 0:12:59.599 the end game. And you started to notice that in 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:01.520 the last couple of weeks as well, right, and Ian 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:03.679 wrote a whole story on it. And obviously being down 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:05.920 in there in Tampa and covering it most every day, 0:13:06.800 --> 0:13:11.199 how did you observe that demeanor change? Um, well, you know, 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:14.599 it's two fold. It's weird because right he Mike just 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:16.719 mentioned it. There was the day that he said, you know, 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:19.160 I want to play until I suck and I can't win. 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:21.480 And to Mike's point, like, he's just he's not gonna suck, right, 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:24.160 He's not. There's no way he could. He's just that's 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:27.120 not him, right, And um, but there was a there 0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:30.160 were points in this season and I would say even 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:32.400 until like pretty late in the season, I mean, look, 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:34.280 the guys leading the league in touchdowns, he's leading the 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:37.079 league in passing, He's doing certain things that, um, he 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:38.880 would do it at the prime of his career to 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:40.440 ask some people are like, are you in the prime 0:13:40.520 --> 0:13:42.400 in some senses and in that way when you can 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:43.920 do that and go out in this league and do that? 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:46.200 And um, you know, I know there were a lot 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:48.280 of questions of like, hey, we know you want to 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:52.760 step away, but do the numbers you're putting up change things? Right? 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:54.600 Even if you had that in your mind, Like I mean, 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:57.920 he got those questions, um as well, because who walks 0:13:58.000 --> 0:14:00.360 away when they lead the league in touchdown? I mean 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:02.600 you're not just talking about you're playing at a high level. 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:06.200 You're playing at the highest level. Well, what is that number? Now? 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:12.160 Touchdown passing the red hometown six six no interceptions. Those 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:15.560 are special numbers from Tom Brady, Well, you're doing something 0:14:16.320 --> 0:14:18.719 better than anybody else is doing. Or I guess you 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:21.560 should say you're throwing more touchdowns than anybody's throwing. You're 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:25.560 throwing for more passing yard. Um, does that change your mind? Uh? 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:28.040 You know Tom was never gonna. You know, he kind 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:31.720 of gives the PC answer, right, he's gonna. He's thoughtful 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:34.480 in what he says. I feel it's, you know, for me, 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:39.120 always about the team's success. So you know, it's hard 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:41.120 to compare one year to another. I feel like I've 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:44.520 felt like I want to play as a championship level player. 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:47.000 That's That's what I've said for a long time. And 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:49.040 he says a lot without saying too much, if that 0:14:49.120 --> 0:14:51.320 makes sense, And Mike knows exactly what I'm talking about, 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:54.240 Like he answers these questions. He will talk sometimes for 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:56.040 five minutes and then you're like, we didn't really say 0:14:56.040 --> 0:14:58.360 anything right, like in terms of like he answers you, 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:00.240 but he doesn't go deep on like I'm to do 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:02.440 this idea that there were a lot of family comments. 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:03.880 I don't think it's the first time we've heard him 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:05.560 say that his family is important. I don't think It's 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:07.720 also the first time that we've heard him say that 0:15:07.880 --> 0:15:11.400 he's going to weigh things, um after the season. But 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:14.320 I think that there was more in previous seasons, and 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:17.880 Mike can speak to this. It always felt more definitive, right. Um, 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:22.080 you just started to not hear definitive answers, not hey, 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:25.360 I'm not going to be back, but just I guess 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:28.400 not the exclamation point people would have wanted on these 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:30.920 questions are asking to him like, you know, a hundred 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:32.960 percent be back, right, He's not gonna say he didn't 0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:37.040 say that, um, And just you saw him be maybe 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:40.520 more reflective in the family way in which Mike's talking about. 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:43.080 And it wasn't just with us in Tampa. It was 0:15:43.240 --> 0:15:45.720 on his national platforms. It was on if he goes 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:48.480 on Howard Stern, Like you just you're hearing that more 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:50.800 and more. But I think what's so hard for people 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:54.160 to wrap their minds around myself included as you're seeing 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:56.760 him like launched this comeback and you're seeing him do 0:15:56.880 --> 0:16:00.240 the things he did without his star players, Um, it 0:16:00.320 --> 0:16:02.280 always makes you think, well, gosh, what if he had 0:16:02.360 --> 0:16:03.520 this guy and this guy and this guy and this 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:05.640 guy that didn't get hurt, and so I think that 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:08.160 that's what's so hard, And it's also it's so great 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:10.040 about Tom Brady is if he wants to walk away, 0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:12.600 he walks away doing it at the highest level. Um, 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:15.360 you know. I I don't think anybody there's nobody that 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:17.000 thinks that they didn't get to the next round because 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:18.720 Tom Brady, right, Like, I mean, he was missing a 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:22.680 million pieces, um. And so that's what makes it so 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:25.160 hard to think about him walking away. And then there's 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:26.760 people like, well, he could have walked away last year, 0:16:26.960 --> 0:16:29.160 right with the confetti fallen down, and he didn't want 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:30.920 to walk away. Then I just think everyone gets to 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:33.440 a point in their lives right where they feel to 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:36.400 your point where a like satisfied, right, And maybe it 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:40.040 took maybe it took another nineteen games of this season 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:44.080 to be satisfied. Maybe it took ten games into this season, 0:16:44.120 --> 0:16:45.680 and he's like, I feel like it's enough. Like I 0:16:45.760 --> 0:16:48.160 don't think anybody knows when it's enough except him, right, 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:51.400 But I totally agree with you. There's no scenario. I 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:53.680 don't think that the way that things leaked out is 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:55.520 how he would have wanted it, Like there would be 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:58.320 some awesome video that's coming on his I mean, you 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:00.760 see this stuff he posts all your I'm like, his 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:03.520 hype videos are better than anybody's hype video. Think they're 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:05.720 so good. And I have to imagine that there's some 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:09.760 great like Mike Drop video that's coming and Tom should 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:13.080 have the right to say when and how that's done. Um. 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:16.640 So it's surprising that it's sort of kind of unraveled 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:19.879 the way it has. Yeah, And I think the one 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:21.840 thing that we can agree on is that that this 0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:24.560 wasn't the way it was going to happen. And when 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:27.120 it does, you know, happen officially in a very well 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:29.080 night here in the next few days and weeks, and 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:32.800 it's going to be something that comes from him and uh, 0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:34.680 and we'll see that in one way, shape or form. 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:39.400 Maybe it's another like silhouette leading or going into a stadium, 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:41.920 which we're all left to a cipher and wonder what 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:44.160 that was all about. Maybe there'll be some more cryptic 0:17:44.840 --> 0:17:47.800 tweets or instagrams or something. We'll we'll we'll find out. 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:49.479 But the one thing we do know is he will 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:51.440 leave the NFL at some point. Whenever he does, is 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:53.879 the best player to ever play the game. Certainly the 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:57.040 best quarterback, best overall player. I don't think there's any 0:17:57.080 --> 0:17:59.520 doubt at this point with his accomplishments. How did you 0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:01.640 get here? How did you go from the sixth round 0:18:01.680 --> 0:18:05.000 pick too? Seven Super Bowl rings? Dig into that here 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:07.000 a little bit and the favorite memories from Mike and 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:10.159 Sarah in their time covering Tom Brady right after this 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:28.160 all right back here an NFL inside report, Mike Giardi 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:31.080 and Sarah Walsh gracious enough to scoopy here with us 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:35.680 as we talked Tom Brady in the well non retirement 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:39.320 retirement situation that we've all kind of been sifting through 0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:41.480 over the course of the last few days and probably 0:18:41.600 --> 0:18:44.520 will um for as long as it takes for Tom 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:46.920 to make some sort of official announcement of his own. 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:51.040 But let's start here, um this part of this, Mike, 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:56.760 with this is a player who's forty four years old, 0:18:56.920 --> 0:19:01.280 that has played twenty two years in the How did 0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:06.240 you see the evolution of him and in his work 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:09.480 that he put into get his body right each and 0:19:09.560 --> 0:19:11.480 every year? Like where did you start to see the 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:14.520 evolution of the whole TV twelve method and all that 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:18.280 that that really gave us this longevity that he's had. Yeah, 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:20.880 I think to me, you started to see a difference 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:23.480 in his body shape. I mean, he if you go 0:19:23.600 --> 0:19:25.800 back and we've seen the picture obviously in his underwear, 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:28.159 from the from the from the combine where you know, 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:31.200 I mean you'll you'll never forget that picture. But he 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:32.680 always kind of had like a little bit of a 0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:35.119 chunky face and he had a smushy body like he 0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:38.880 wasn't this freak athlete, which you know, not all quarterbacks 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:42.200