Bucs QB Brady gives wisdom, reflects resilience

Thursday is the day the media gets a chance to interview Bucs quarterback Tom Brady at his weekly press conference. While a more light-hearted video for him appeared on the team’s YouTube channel earlier in the day Armchair QB series, his press conferences always seem to evoke themes of wisdom and life lessons. Maybe it’s because he’s a 45-year-old quarterback with 23 years of NFL knowledge, or maybe his true calling is to be a wise man perched atop a mountaintop.

Either way, this week provided one of the best opportunities to hear him reflect and provide deeper perspectives. Brady spoke extensively about relationships, trust, the overall process, appreciation and resilience.

Bucs QB Brady: “It’s still a lot of fun for me”

Perhaps one of the clearest examples was when he discussed his ACL injury in 2008.I really think ever since I hurt my knee in 2008, I love football and appreciate every opportunity,” said Brady.

“I’m lucky that I’ve been playing basically every game I’ve been able to play since that year. I have a lot of perspective on the fact that I’m not even there. I like to play and I like to play with my team mates I like to practice I like to play sports I like to train I like to talk football I like to talk about pass protection and run blocking and all the crazy things that [is] probably the things that not many of us think about. It’s still a lot of fun for me.”

It’s nice to hear he’s still having fun so far in his career, as nearly everyone with a vested interest in the Bucs wishes his 2023 return the way kids wish presents at Christmas. Before that happens, the team looks set to finish the season on a high before making the playoffs.

The 2022 Bucs are a team unlike any other team Brady has led in the regular season. He has never lost eight games in a regular season, nor has he stats and offensive output he has orchestrated looked so bad before. Brady continues to chart in deeper uncharted waters as he battles Father Time, but leading a 6-8 team is even less familiar with the standards he sets himself as a leader.

Confidence and resilience are part of the process

This does not mean that all is lost. Brady is the right man for the job of carrying the team to the rungs of the NFC ladder. He has overcome a lot of adversity in his career to achieve his status. Much of that adversity can be traced back to being confident and resilient to face these obstacles.

“I just think confidence in yourself, confidence in your teammates, confidence in what you do. I think the process of trying to get things right is always more important than the outcome of things. We’re always so focused on winning and losing, and I’m always focused on the process of how you get to wins, why you win and why you lose, because sometimes things don’t go your way.

“You could quit, you could take the easy way out, you could find a way not to get into games. I’m sure a lot of players can do that, but I don’t think there are many rewards in that. So at the end of the day, I feel like you need to find what you learn from the challenges of losing games and the challenges of dealing with adversity. It takes a lot out of you. I think if you overcome them, you learn a lot from it, you can apply it in different ways in life, and I think there’s a real benefit to that as you move forward.

The team and its fans will learn a lot from the struggles the team is really fighting as they finish this season. Will they wave the white flag, or will they stick to pirate fashion and plunder weaker foes?

The Bucs have lost quite a few games this year in frustrating ways to say the least. Having experienced this, they can become stronger as they try to prove the doubters from the outside. Within the walls of their facility, they will hopefully heed Brady’s words of wisdom and grow resilient in the face of adversity.