Wearing a bright new red version of his customary TB12 hat, Tom Brady held a pretty short, light-hearted meeting the massive media scrum in from of his Gillette Stadium locker Wednesday morning. The Patriots passer touched a wide variety of topics in just more than seven minutes before calling quits, including the Pope (No Donald Trump comments this week?!), his own playing mortality and his upcoming 400th NFL touchdown pass. Here are a few key notes from Brady's not-even-elbow-room session crowded in front of his locker.
1. "In Bill We Trust" - Brady once met Pope John Paul II in a visit to Rome early in his NFL career. With Pope Francis making his first visit to the United States this week, Brady was asked about his meeting with the Pope. Brady described it as, "very brief," but made it clear it was well worth it. A follow-up question asked who Brady would rank higher, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick or the Pope? "In Bill we trust," Brady joked, using a common theme of Patriots fans. "Are you kidding me?"
2. Pop Jaguars quiz - A couple hours after Bill Belichick emphasized how much his team needed to study and prepare for an unfamiliar foe like the "young, hungry" Jaguars, Brady revealed that the team's knowledge of Jacksonville had already been put to the test. "Coach quizzed us pretty hard this morning," Brady said. "It's a team we don't know very much. They are off to a better start this year than they have in the past. I'm sure they'll be fired up and ready to go. You just try to gather as much information as you can in a short period of time. It's going to take a great week of practice and execution.
3. Beating Father Time? - In Tuesday conference calls with the New England media, both Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels talked about how hard their quarterback works to continue to play at a high level at the age of 38, a time when many are washed up or at least fading into the sunset. On Wednesday, Brady himself was asked about his race with Father Time.
"I don't think we have enough time to discuss all those things," Brady said when asked about how he's winning that race. "I think it's just I try to prepare myself year round for the marathon of the NFL. I have a routine that works for me. It's a process and it's cumulative effect of a lot of different things. So I'm excited to be feeling the way I feel.
"I think football is something I love to do and I want to do it for a long time. You have to take a different approach than what's been taken in the past or else you'll probably get the same results as everybody else. I'm just trying to be the best I can be."
