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Brady on WEEI
Quarterback Tom Brady was a guest of sports radio WEEI this morning as part of "Patriots Monday" programming. Greg Dickerson and Butch Stearns hosted the program and Brady touched on a variety of topics.
Brady said he hopes to take a few days off once he becomes a father.
"I'm certainly going to get there, and try to be there for the birth; it will be a great experience," he said.
Brady talked about the excitement of becoming a father.
"I'm an uncle and I know what it's like to be an uncle. My niece has been up here the last few weeks. My family is extremely close to me, with three older sisters and loving parents and supportive parents, I think everybody is anxious."
Later on during his State of the Quarterback address with the media in Foxborough, Brady talked about the difficulty of balancing football and family.
"It's very demanding being a parent and being an athlete as well because you have commitments to your teammates as well. Certainly, a lot of people make sacrifices for their family, a lot of people do. I'm dealing with a certain situation, a very joyous, happy situation and some people have dealt with death in the past and that's incredibly difficult.
"A lot of it is that you realize when you come here you try to focus your attention and compartmentalize what you're doing, so you can give this team what it needs because that's really what you sign up for when you come here.
"I don't like to be too distracted of things that are going on, realizing how important all of this is in my life, but still understanding that when I'm here I'm going to do my best with my commitment to these guys and this team because really that's what they deserve. I'd hate to come in here and have my mind on a hundred different things because that's not going to help this team at all. When I leave here I deal with that and my team takes a step backward."
Brady talked more about the situation later in the morning in Foxborough. Here's a transcript of his comments:
Q: You mentioned you’d like some time off for the baby. Have you talked to Coach Belichick about that?
TB: Yeah, we’ll see when it happens. Like I said, it’s up to Bill. Bill has a lot to say, so we’ll deal with it when it happens.
Q: You did say on the radio this morning that you’d like some time off when the baby arrives, is that the case?
TB: I hope so. Like I said, I’m sure when it happens it’s a matter of scheduling with what’s going on with the team.
Q: It won’t be a case if the schedule doesn’t break a certain way, that’s tough for the schedule though, would you say?
TB: Yeah, probably. I think that’s safe to assume.
Q: It’s only natural that you have more on your mind now than just football. There’s a lot of excitement in your own mind about being a father, how do you stay focused on what’s at hand?
TB: Sure, I think that’s something that I deal with and it’s a situation that a lot of other players deal with and other situations as well. I’m certainly not the only player that has a family or is going to be a father. There’s a lot guys who bring their kids out there every day. That’s very demanding being a parent and being an athlete as well because you have commitments to your team and certainly a lot of people make sacrifices for their family. A lot of people do. I’m dealing with a certain situation, a very joyous, happy situation and some people have dealt with death in the past and that’s incredibly difficult. A lot of it is you realize when you come here that you try to focus your attention and compartmentalize what you’re doing so you can get this team what it needs because that’s really what you sign up for when you come here. I don’t like to be too distracted by things that are going on, realizing how important all of this is in my life, but still understanding that when I’m here, I’m doing my best to the commitment to these guys and this team because that’s what they really deserve. I’d hate to come in here and have my mind on a hundred different things. That’s not going to help this team at all. And when I leave here, I deal with that and my team takes a step backward.
Q: Whenever you get a call, do you think that it could be The Call?
TB: Um, (laughs).
Q: Or do you already know when that call is coming?
TB: Oh, no. I wish I did. I told you that’s God’s decision. That’s the Good Lord that’s making that call. I think everybody’s anxious. I’ll put it that way.
Q: Is the scheduled due date before the regular season? We’d heard it was supposed to be on the day training camp started.
TB: I know. I realize that. I’d just like to keep that stuff because it just brings up a lot of things that I haven’t discussed in the past and it’s stuff that’s very private to me. I’ve talked to my family and so forth. Like I said, you all know it won’t be hard to figure out when it happens. If I always responded to, you know, every time somebody said something, I’d be talking all the time.
(Updated at 3 p.m.)
