It’s been a long offseason for Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who finally saw his four-game suspension overturned this week by Judge Richard Berman.
That black cloud had created a lot of uncertainty heading into the season in terms of who would potentially be lining up under center for New England in their home-opener against the Steelers this week. Now that it’s gone, Brady’s glad to be able to put it behind him and start preparing for a football game.
“I’ll be excited to run out there Thursday night,” said Brady, who addressed reporters for the first time this offseason. “It’s obviously been a long seven months for everybody, but I think now the goal is to focus on what my job is and what I need to go out there and do to help our team win.”
Brady admitted this offseason has been “different”, obviously choosing his words carefully as he talked to the media about what the last few months have been like for him. The veteran said that he’s gotten through it just by trying to compartmentalize things and keeping it all in perspective.
“I think I’ve dealt with different situations in my life. You’ve got to always figure out a way to overcome different obstacles you face, and part of it is being mentally tough, and part of it is compartmentalizing things and dealing with things when they’re really kind of at the forefront,” said Brady. “And then when they’re not you’ve got to put them someplace else and think about what your job is. I think that’s a lot of what I’ve learned over the years playing this position, and certainly any time you’re someone that’s in the public eye like I am, you deal with different things.”
“I think everybody in their life deals with different stresses, whatever they may be – financial, or family stress, or work stress – and you just do the best you can do.”
When asked if he was surprised the league is going to appeal the ruling, Brady responded, “That’s their choice, and I think that’s just part of this process. My part is to get ready to play football, and that’s what I’m really excited to do.”
For now he’s looking forward to Thursday night, which will include a banner ceremony commemorating their championship from earlier this year. From there, it’s time to go out and take care of business.
“It hasn’t happened in a long time,” said Brady regarding raising the banner. “I think our guys are excited, but I think mostly we’ve got to focus on what our job is, and that’s to put that celebration behind us and move forward into a new year because it’s different challenges, different teams, different schedule. Any time you’re in a situation like we’re in, we know that we’re going to get everybody’s best.”
“I love football, I love the sport, and I love playing in the NFL. To get the opportunity to do it, certainly with all my teammates and my friends – I’ve had so much support with my family through all of this. For the last 20 years I’ve been playing football this time of year, and it feels good to be able to do that again.”
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
