He said all the right things, as he always does.
When you combine one of the smartest quarterbacks ever with image and business concerns, you have among the most polished athletes since Derek Jeter.
That's Tom Brady, the icon.
So when Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (Editor's note: Gross) was announced to the world for the first time on Tuesday, Brady knew all the checkmarks he had to hit: Sound excited for the opportunity with the new team for the fans buying tickets, don't sound overly excited because of the pandemic many are suffering through, be respectful of the Patriots and their fans who have supported Brady through thick and thin throughout his career — without much thin, right Bill? — who will continue to support his business endeavors.
Brady dinked and dunked all the way through the press conference, just like he did for so many game-winning drives. It's what he does.
But it sure sounded like Brady, for the first time, has started to grasp the scope of the challenge he's about to undertake.
This all probably sounded pretty good in his own mind since last summer, when Belichick gave Brady his final insulting extension offer and then Brady asked for the trigger to the bomb to blow up the relationship.
But since Brady pushed it, so much has happened. A real market with ready-made Super Bowl contenders didn't materialize. He was left with loser franchises that would pay just about anything for some legitimacy, leaving TB12 as, in essence, a mercenary. Brady agreed to terms with a new franchise and, more importantly, the world changed in such a manner that Brady might be relegated to a finite amount of on-field practice time to learn a new offense, teammates, and coaches before games start — if they do at all.
Brady's sea change was mentioned numerous times.
"There's a lot of things I've got to get up to speed on, obviously learning different terminology. That's a unique challenge that I haven't faced but it's one that I'm looking forward to, also."
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In general, Brady took the high road out of New England as expected: