Bedard: Tom Brady's alter ego gets a public viewing in throwback playoff run, but why now?

ATLANTA — There have always been two Bradys.

First, there was Tom Brady the son, brother, father. You know the one. The gee-whiz guy with the permanent smile, like he's trying to sell you something (of course, now he is, with TB12). The guy who doesn't want to offend anyone and exudes class, to the point that he is a pitchman for brands that service the 1 percent.

I'm not sure (the way he dispels a good, but tough question).

I don't agree with calling me the greatest of all time.

I don't believe so (when asked if was a cheater).

That's not an act. Brady is that nice, to people from all walks of life. I'm often asked if Brady is the real deal in terms of the person he is, and I say yes every time. He's a credit to his parents and family. He's the kind of guy you hope your daughter will marry. He's the guy that will help you out in a pinch.

That Brady will be trotted out again Monday at Super Bowl Media Night. He'll be up on a podium and asked all sorts of mind-numbing questions. He'll even be pushed a little bit. But Brady won't give in. He'll keep smiling and deflecting, and leaving everyone listening thoroughly impressed.

But there's another side of Brady that has enabled him to be playing in his ninth Super Bowl, and going for his sixth ring this coming weekend. There's the ultra-competitive, trash-talking side, one that hasn't exactly been hidden as of late. It's been talked about a little bit over the years, usually in the lead-up to another Patriots Super Bowl appearance because every media outlet is trying to find a newish angle on the Patriots' signal-caller.

What's different this time around? Brady is allowing that side of him to get a public viewing during this postseason run.

There was the We suck interview.



Brady telling his teammates that he's the baddest MFer.

https://twitter.com/MikeGiardi/status/1087054435979837440

"It's un-(bleeping) believable bro," to be going back to the Super Bowl.



This side of Brady has always been there. It's essential to who he is as a player, and the heights he has achieved on the field. But he's done a pretty good job of keeping it hidden from fans ... until now.

The question: Why are we seeing this side of Brady now?

I've talked to a few people close to him and they keep coming back to two things.

This continues the "Tom on his terms" season

It started in the offseason when Brady decided not to be part of the workouts, or even the organized team activities. That was partly Brady feeling the pull of family, but also a desire to do things more on his terms rather than those of Bill Belichick, with whom Brady was estranged from during that time, stemming from the Alex Guerrero situation.

Like Brady's wife said in Tom vs. Time, Brady loved the game so much but it (namely Belichick) wasn't loving him back.

"He tells me, 'I love it so much and I just want to go to work and feel appreciated and have fun,'" she said.

If Brady wasn't enjoying what he was doing — and he wasn't at that time — why should he make so many sacrifices? So he tried doing it a different way. Brady and Belichick have since made amends — the joy with which Brady has gone about his job in the past couple of months has been evident. But the "Tom on his terms" mentality has continued through the season and into the playoffs.

Some of it is age as well.

"How long can you continue to be Tom Brady all the time?" asked one Brady source. "At some point, you get tired of that and you just want to be you. It's been, what, 18 years? He's saying, 'Screw it.'"

Brady needs this extra motivation

Throughout his football life, Brady has had a chip on his shoulder. From the struggles of his high school team, to the circus at Michigan and his draft slot, Brady has almost always had to buck the odds, and he relished that challenge. It fueled him. Even the Patriots' drafting of Jimmy Garoppolo and Belichick's comment that, "We know what Tom's age and contract situation is..." gave Brady a needed kick in the competitive pants.

And that was almost five years ago.

This season, Brady was coming off an MVP campaign and surrounded by a cast of characters that had been there, done that in terms of reaching and winning Super Bowls. Normally, Patriots' teams have an influx of new faces that make the mix in the locker room new and fresh. Not this year. Of the top 20 Patriots offensive players in terms of playing time, only Trent Brown and Sony Michel were new to the team.

The Patriots, especially offensively, went through the motions more than a few times this season, with a bottoming out in the loss to the Steelers. If it continued, the Patriots were headed for an early postseason exit.

Enter the noise factor.

Suddenly, the team with the mantra, "Ignore The Noise," was embracing it so much they might as well have had satellite dishes on their heads.

That includes Brady. The guy who would often say that he doesn't listen or read anything suddenly heard and saw everything about how the Patriots' dynasty was dying, and he was no longer playing at a high level.

"He heard all that stuff before, but it was hard to come by for a while," said another Brady source. "People talked about his cliff before just because of his age. There wasn't any real evidence. He was winning Super Bowls and then an MVP. This season you did see signs of it. People started talking, and that really bothers him. Nobody tells Tom Brady when he's done. Tom Brady will say when he's done. It's like that scene in Breaking Bad."



In short, these Patriots — especially Brady — needed this noise-filled boost. It fueled Brady at the start of his career, but it's been a trusted source of motivation at various times throughout his ridiculous run of success.

The only difference now is, after so many years, he doesn't care who gets to see it. Now, more than ever, it's becoming a year-to-year proposition on whether the Patriots can return to the Super Bowl. The cast could definitely change next year, and everyone will be a year older.

Might as well as enjoy it while you can.

Brady, more than he has in some time, is doing just that.