On media night Monday night, ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio interviewed both Matt Ryan and Tom Brady leading up to Sunday’s showdown in Houston between the two teams. Here’s the transcript from that interview:
Tom, it’s Matt’s first Super Bowl, why don’t we let him go first?
You’ve known Tom Brady for so many years, what have you learned from the game about how to be a player and a professional from Tom Brady?
MR: “I’ve learned a lot, I mean, just watching from afar. His consistency for his career has been very impressive. So that’s probably the biggest thing, just the way he works week-in, week-out, year-in and year-out. He plays the game the right way and plays really hard.”
Now, Tom, it’s his first Super Bowl, it’s your seventh. I know you guys text all the time, one another, so I’ll put you on the spot right now. Without the texts, what kind of advice would you give Matt to get mentally prepared for this football game?
TB: “Well, Matt doesn’t need my advice, he’s doing just fine without it. He’s had an incredible season. You know, I’ve always kind of watched Matt, obviously being at Boston College and not far from Gillette Stadium. He’s just had an incredible career. To be the first pick overall and to come with all those expectations and to really fulfill them in the City of Atlanta has been pretty cool. He’s a great player, he’s leading a great football team and it’s going to be a big test for us.”
You know, you’ve gone through so much this year, what’s been the secret to getting the Patriots back to the Super Bowl, Tom?
TB: “Well, I think we’ve got a lot of mental toughness, a lot of physical toughness, you know, it’s just a hard working team. The coaches challenged us every step of the way and the team’s met the challenge. Our biggest one’s ahead of us and it’s the one that means the most, but it’s the toughest one to earn, too. So I think it’s important this week to just stay focused on what we need to do and the preparation and go all the way up to game time and try to let it rip on Sunday night.”
Here you are on a big stage, Matt, across from a guy you’ve idolized. How do you get yourself mentally prepared to play against the Patriots and Tom Brady?
MR: “I think you just go into your normal routine. For us, it’s getting back to work tomorrow and focusing on our meetings and getting onto the practice field and making sure that we do the right things on the practice field. You know, just having that build-up during the week that we normally have so we’re ready to go when the ball gets kicked off Sunday night.”
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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.
