Tom Brady

7 takeaways from Tom Brady’s appearance on ‘The Shop’

Brady discussed his free agency, winning Super Bowls, and more.

By Conor Roche

June 25, 2021

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Former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady made an appearance in Friday’s episode of HBO’s “The Shop.” Appearing alongside NBA star Draymond Green, comedian Chelsea Handler, artist Kid Cudi, and businessmen Maverick Carter and Paul Rivera, Brady discussed his 2020 free agency, winning Super Bowls, and much more.

Here are seven takeaways from what Brady said on the show.

He didn’t reveal who the ‘Mother f—er’ was, but says he wouldn’t have signed with that team anyway.

When the first teaser of the episode was released, the big focus was on who Brady was calling “mother f—er.’ He didn’t reveal who it was and which team stopped showing interest in him.

“There was a story in free agency – and one of the teams, they were interested,” Brady said. “And all of a sudden they weren’t interested in the very end. I was sitting there thinking, ‘You’re sticking with that mother f—er? Are you serious?'”

Paul Rivera followed up by saying there was “no way” Brady would’ve signed with that team, right?

“Absolutely,” Brady said. “Looking back, I’m thinking ‘There’s no f—ing way I would’ve gone to that team. They said they didn’t want me! I know what that means! I know what that feels like! And I’m going to f— you up because of that.”

The 10-year Super Bowl drought gave Brady perspective on winning.

After winning his seventh Super Bowl this past season, the show’s other guests and hosts quipped that Brady’s going to be winning forever.

“That’s not happening,” Brady said. “Not forever and ever. We’re coming to the end.”

Despite winning seven Super Bowls, Brady hasn’t always finished each season lifting the Lombardi Trophy. As a matter of fact, after winning his third Super Bowl in 2004, Brady and the Patriots went 10 years without winning again. That experience changed Brady’s view on winning.

“So much for me is about having perspective,” Brady said. “After a while, you go ‘Holy s—. How did that happen?’ There were times where, yeah I was young and really enjoyed the moment of sports.

“After we won our third Super Bowl, I was really young. I was 25 and made some comment like ‘Man, maybe there’s more to life than this.’ And then we didn’t win a Super Bowl for 10 years and I was like ‘F—! This is really hard.’

“The next time we won the Super Bowl was the most amazing experience of my life because I had perspective of not doing well and taking it for granted when it did go well and then realizing at this moment, ‘Oh my God. That was impossible.'”

He explained the difference between having a Super Bowl parade in Boston vs. Tampa.

Celebrating a Super Bowl win in February is obviously different in Tampa Bay than it is in Boston. Brady reflected on the boat parade, which included the trophy toss.

“It was fun,” Brady said of the Super Bowl parade in Tampa. “I had been in the Northeast for 20 years. So it’s like freezing cold when we won and it was like 38 (degrees). We were freezing by the end of the parade like, ‘Get me home!’

“This one we’re on a boat. It’s 85 degrees. We’re drinking tequila all day. I’ve got the Super Bowl trophy in my hand. I’m in my boat. Chelsea’s where the other boat is and I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m going to throw it to my boys over there.’ So I throw it and the bottom of this trophy is sharp. It could’ve gone so bad.”

Brady shared what got him to work with Alex Guerrero.

Brady’s relationship with Alex Guerrero has been well documented over the years. The two started the” TB12 Method” several years back as a way for athletes to remain in top form. Not long after training with Guerrero, Brady started to feel good again.

“At this point, I’ve had a lot of experience. I feel like I was very blessed to have the right people come into my life at the right time,” Brady said. “Alex, my great friend, my brother, he’s out here with me today. I was struggling with how to take care of my body. I wanted to play sports but my body hurt all the time. My right elbow hurt every time I threw. So, I started working with him. All the pain in my elbow went away. I take care of my body because when I’m out there, I’m feeling great. Every athlete loves to feel great.”

“I feel very fortunate to – not always feel 100 percent – but close to it,” Brady added.

Brady gave his thoughts on how he views people calling him the “GOAT” or not.

Following Brady’s fifth Super Bowl win in 2017, the debate on if he was the greatest football player and athlete of all time heated up.

NBA superstar LeBron James shared that he respected Brady’s accomplishments, but said Brady can’t be the greatest athlete ever because he doesn’t play both sides of the ball.

Carter asked Brady how he felt about James’s comments.

“I’m not a big comparison guy like that,” Brady said. “It’s really about what style you like. Maybe you can say you’re the most accomplished. I would say, ‘Yeah, I’ve won a lot of games, Super Bowls, and so forth.’

“But my style of play might not fit everybody else’s of what they view that position should be. I can really be the best with the body that I was given. There’s certain things that I certainly cannot do. I had the awareness to realize, ‘OK, I can’t do those things.’ You can’t do everyone else’s job.

“I can’t block, tackle, run, catch – I sure as hell can’t run. But I can throw the s— out of the ball. So, let me just do that really well. If I do that, I think the team could certainly use me for that.”

Brady’s rarely fully honest in his press conferences.

If there’s one thing that everyone would agree is part of the “Patriot Way,” it’s that players and coaches don’t give bulletin board material to their opponents.

That was apparent during Brady’s years in New England, as he often stayed away from saying anything controversial during press conferences. However, he admits what he says is very rarely how he feels.

“What I say and what I think are two different things,” Brady said. “I would say 90 percent of what I say is not what I’m thinking, which is challenging. I really admire people that actually can do that and say what they think because they invite a lot of other things. I think there’s part of me that doesn’t like conflict. So in the end, I always try to play it super flat.

“From a strategic standpoint, I never want to give away what I’m doing. I usually say the opposite. If they got a s—ty corner, I’ll say, ‘That guy’s unbelievable. I don’t know how they can complete balls over there.’ And in my mind, I’m thinking, ‘I’m going to go at that mother f—er all day.’ I don’t want to give them anything.

“When it comes to other things, there’s part of it that’s giving people your power. Like, why can Chelsea (Handler) say something that can affect me that in my view it shouldn’t or however based on what you say. I try to think a lot before I speak.

“Some people, like my wife for example, she just lets it come out. It’s like vroom and it’s out. I’m like, ‘Oh s—.’ And she’s right. Her instincts and her nature is usually right with a lot of things that she says and thinks. I’m like ‘How does she do that?’ Because I’ve got to think about it for five or 10 minutes and think this particular situation or answer. I don’t want to say something in the end where I’m like, ‘Ah, wish I said something different.'”

Brady feels for Naomi Osaka and is jealous of Marshawn Lynch.

Tennis star Naomi Osaka made headlines recently for dropping out of the French Open after getting fined for skipping a press conference due to her mental health.

Brady shared empathy for her situation.

“You feel for the 22-year-olds that are in the position that – look, there’s a lot of things happening in their life,” Brady said. “We all go through things. I went through a lot of things in my late teens, early 20s. I didn’t know how to deal with a lot of things that were coming because there was no training guide for how to deal with what was happening in my life.

“Now as someone that’s twice her age, you have compassion and empathy for that. You hope that she can deal with that because you wouldn’t want that to take away from her true joy of playing tennis. You don’t want something like that taking away from what her joy should be.”

After showing empathy for Osaka, Brady called back a moment from prior to the Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl XLIX matchup.

“Like Marshawn Lynch, that was the most beautiful thing saying, ‘I’m just here so I won’t get fined.’ I mean, he put no mental energy into any question and he didn’t get fined for that.,” Brady said. “It’s a very hard thing to do, I wish I could just go, ‘I’m just here so I won’t get fined.’ I’ve said that 50 times! I’ve never done it. One day I’ll do it before I retire.”

Brady also added that he “definitely” doesn’t feel like he has the freedom to say whatever he wants.

“I think I’m in an enterprise and I’m an employee of that enterprise,” Brady said. “I’m not my own entrepreneur who can make my own individual choices. I think I’ll get there at some point where I can and I’ll choose to. But you’re still in a structured system. So you still feel like you’ve got to play – at least I feel like – by their rules. There’s definitely times where you don’t want to play by the rules.”