Like many different fan bases will tell you, whether right or wrong, Tom Brady is always looking for an edge.
Brady’s competiveness is so well known, that Hall of Fame quarterback turned NFL broadcaster Troy Aikman believes that he delivered some complaints on offseason workouts to give hismelf an edge over his opponents.
Brady encouraged his fellow players to take a stand by advocating in a NFLPA conference call for workouts in May and June to be toned down.
“We shouldn’t have overly competitive drills in May and June,” Brady said during a call with the NFL Players Association, according to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. “There’s no (bleeping) pro baseball player that’s throwing 95 mph in the middle of December.”
Appearing as a guest on the “Flying Coach” podcast with Rams coach Sean McVay and NFL analyst Peter Schrager — Aikman eventually figured out the reason why Brady said those comments.
“I was surprised to hear Tom Brady say the players need more time off. He was very vocal. It shocked me, because I know Tom well,” Aikman said.
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“And then I realized, that’s the greatness of Tom Brady, because I can assure you, he’s not taking those days off, and that team is not taking those days off. And so he views it as a total competitive advantage. If teams are practicing less, and he’s practicing more, that’s going to give him a leg up on the competition, and I think that was really the whole motivation for those comments.”
“I’m all for getting rested,” Aikman said. “But at some point you have to pose the question — do you want to be great or not? Do you want to be a great team? Do you want to be a great player? And if you do, you’ve got to put in the time.”
After joining the Buccaneers during the 2020 offseason, Brady was working out in public parks even as official NFL practices were delayed due to COVID-19.
During an appearance on The Shop, Brady had already admitted that things that come out of his mouth shouldn’t be believed.
“What I say versus what I think are two totally different things,” Brady admitted. “I would say 90 percent of what I say is probably not what I’m thinking. Which is challenging, you know? And I really admire people that actually can do that, and say what they think, because they invite a lot of other things into their life.”
