[{"_1":2,"_3":-5,"_4":-5},"loaderData",{"_5":6,"_7":8},"actionData","errors","root",{"_137":-5,"_138":-5,"_139":140,"_141":142,"_143":144},"routes/clips.$id.$slug",{"_9":10,"_11":12},"clip",{"_13":14,"_15":16,"_17":-5,"_18":19,"_20":-5,"_21":22,"_23":24,"_25":26,"_27":28,"_29":30,"_31":32,"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":-5,"_42":-5,"_43":-5,"_44":45,"_46":-5,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":-5},"canonicalUrl","https://howleaderslead.com/clips/827/how-to-find-your-footing-in-a-new-role","id",827,"title","How to find your footing in a new role","subtitle","transcript","WEBVTT\n\n1\n00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.560\ngoing to a new situation?\n\n2\n00:00:01.560 --> 00:00:03.520\n- I think obviously I haven't a lot of self-awareness\n\n3\n00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:05.880\nto be able to evaluate, okay,\n\n4\n00:00:05.880 --> 00:00:08.880\nwhat exact situation am I getting myself into?\n\n5\n00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:13.320\nAnd what can I do to help the situation?\n\n6\n00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:15.320\nAgain, football is pretty simple,\n\n7\n00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:19.080\nin the sense that it's a pretty specific position\n\n8\n00:00:19.080 --> 00:00:20.320\nI was entering.\n\n9\n00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:21.840\nIf you're a head coach,\n\n10\n00:00:21.840 --> 00:00:24.120\nyou're entering a different type of position.\n\n11\n00:00:24.120 --> 00:00:26.680\nYou're going as a quarterback and I'm looking at\n\n12\n00:00:26.680 --> 00:00:29.000\nhow I played quarterback for 20 years,\n\n13\n00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:31.600\nand I'm looking at how the person here\n\n14\n00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:33.720\nplayed quarterback prior to me,\n\n15\n00:00:33.720 --> 00:00:35.240\nand I'm going, okay, well,\n\n16\n00:00:35.240 --> 00:00:37.080\nif I was in that situation,\n\n17\n00:00:37.080 --> 00:00:39.320\nthis is the decision I would have made.\n\n18\n00:00:39.320 --> 00:00:42.680\nAnd then it's just a daily process of, okay,\n\n19\n00:00:42.680 --> 00:00:44.000\nthis is my job,\n\n20\n00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:46.400\nand this is how I'm going to try to improve this position\n\n21\n00:00:46.400 --> 00:00:49.600\non the team, you know, through a communication,\n\n22\n00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:53.640\nhumility, respect, caring, learning.\n\n23\n00:00:53.640 --> 00:00:55.800\nAnd everybody does that to different degrees,\n\n24\n00:00:55.800 --> 00:00:58.520\nbut again, you've got to be able to apply those\n\n25\n00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:02.520\nin real time, and again, some of it's physical,\n\n26\n00:01:02.520 --> 00:01:04.280\nsome of it's mental, some of it's emotional,\n\n27\n00:01:04.280 --> 00:01:07.360\nand you have probably a broad overall strategy\n\n28\n00:01:07.360 --> 00:01:08.920\nthat you're trying to accomplish,\n\n29\n00:01:08.920 --> 00:01:10.960\nbut then there's also little details\n\n30\n00:01:10.960 --> 00:01:13.640\nthat you've got to be able to figure out on a daily basis.\n\n31\n00:01:13.640 --> 00:01:15.120\nAnd it takes a long time,\n\n32\n00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:16.640\nit doesn't happen overnight,\n\n33\n00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:19.640\nbecause if you come in and the last thing\n\n34\n00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:20.640\nanyone wants to hear is,\n\n35\n00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:22.600\nhey, this is what we did at the Patriots.\n\n36\n00:01:22.600 --> 00:01:24.000\nNo one wants to hear that.\n\n37\n00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:26.760\nLike, I remember when being a package,\n\n38\n00:01:26.760 --> 00:01:29.240\nthose people would say, \"Oh, I work to Procter and Gabel.\"\n\n39\n00:01:29.240 --> 00:01:31.920\nThey would go, \"Oh, they start the gag.\"\n\n40\n00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:34.680\n- Same thing, I mean, nobody wants to hear that.\n\n41\n00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:36.200\nAnd I was really conscious,\n\n42\n00:01:36.200 --> 00:01:38.160\nlike, I don't want to hear that either,\n\n43\n00:01:38.160 --> 00:01:39.000\nyou know what I mean?\n\n44\n00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:41.360\nI want to earn what we're doing going forward.\n\n45\n00:01:41.360 --> 00:01:44.800\nAnd, you know, this is how the Bucks do it,\n\n46\n00:01:44.800 --> 00:01:47.600\nand this is how I think I can help improve what we're doing.\n\n47\n00:01:47.600 --> 00:01:48.520\nAnd I was very, you know,\n\n48\n00:01:48.520 --> 00:01:51.520\nI came into a situation where everybody was really receptive\n\n49\n00:01:51.520 --> 00:01:52.360\nof that as well.\n\n50\n00:01:52.360 --> 00:01:54.800\nThey really allowed me to be who I am.\n\n51\n00:01:54.800 --> 00:01:57.400\nAnd I think I'm very grateful for the leadership\n\n52\n00:01:57.400 --> 00:01:59.040\nthat is here prior to me with the players,\n\n53\n00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:00.680\nsome of the real veteran core players\n\n54\n00:02:00.680 --> 00:02:05.440\nthat were doing an amazing job at what they did,\n\n55\n00:02:05.440 --> 00:02:08.840\nand an amazing coaching staff that the coaches are,\n\n56\n00:02:08.840 --> 00:02:11.720\nyou know, they provide a huge responsibility on the team.\n\n57\n00:02:11.720 --> 00:02:14.520\nBut the one thing the coaches can't do is they can't play.\n\n58\n00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:17.400\nAnd the players, as much as they want to coach\n\n59\n00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:19.960\nand give strategy and leadership,\n\n60\n00:02:19.960 --> 00:02:21.760\nit's up to the players to go execute.\n","pretty_transcript","start_time",471188,"end_time",611460,"keywords","career, career development, promotion, new job, new role, self awareness, sports, football, NFL, GOAT","slug","how-to-find-your-footing-in-a-new-role","origin","cms","mux_playback_id","GYowC3Cbhz7M4inlwBwPfr9yORUct6tfVJT9mT1IZpY","mux_asset_id","jlYFh01HlKmGS1n2YKkFmTrxWanNRkuJcqxvMMYRfhpQ","leader_id",87,"episode_id",235,"updated_at","2025-02-26T20:03:25.000000Z","meta_title","meta_description","og_image_media_id","web_url","https://www.howleaderslead.com/clips/827/how-to-find-your-footing-in-a-new-role","og_image_url","leader",{"_13":36,"_101":102,"_103":104,"_105":106,"_25":107,"_108":109,"_62":110,"_59":110,"_111":112,"_69":113,"_39":114,"_115":-5,"_41":-5,"_42":-5,"_43":-5,"_116":117,"_89":118,"_44":119,"_120":121,"_122":123,"_46":-5,"_124":125,"_126":127,"_93":128,"_51":-5},"episode",{"_13":38,"_15":52,"_27":53,"_17":54,"_55":56,"_18":57,"_20":58,"_59":60,"_61":-5,"_62":60,"_63":-5,"_64":65,"_66":67,"_68":-5,"_69":-5,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":-5,"_35":36,"_39":75,"_41":-5,"_42":-5,"_43":-5,"_76":77,"_78":79,"_80":81,"_82":83,"_84":-5,"_85":-5,"_86":87,"_88":-5,"_89":-5,"_46":-5,"_90":91,"_92":-5,"_93":-5,"_51":-5},"og_image_media","Build Strong Relationships With Clear Communication","build-strong-relationships-with-clear-communication","Learn how clear and current communication can carry you through big transitions – both as a leader and as a part of a team. Plus, Tom’s honest reflection on his time at the Patriots and whether he thinks he can play until he’s fifty.","summary","

Today’s guest is Tom Brady, the quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and – let’s be honest – the greatest of all time.

Now, we all go into new situations where we're expected to come in, turn the team around, and perform. And that’s exactly what Tom did at the Bucs, winning the Super Bowl in his very first season at Tampa Bay. That’s why we call him the GOAT, right!?

In this conversation, we really dig into what made that transition from the Patriots to the Bucs so darn successful.

Of course, Tom is known for his elite discipline and his grit. And with good reason! But Tom is also incredible at building relationships with his teammates, coaches and management.

For us leaders, so much depends on how we connect and communicate with people. Do we know how to convey our expectations clearly? Do we know how to build consensus? Do we have the courage to tackle the tough conversations right away and not let them fester?

Tom sure does! And this conversation is a goldmine of wisdom for how to build strong relationships through clear communication – especially if you find yourself leading in a new situation.

You’ll also learn:

Specific ways to build trust when you step into a new situation
One critical thing to avoid in your one-on-one relationships at work
How to adjust to a new boss
A key mindset shift you can use when things don’t go as planned

Take your learning further. Get proven leadership advice from these (free!) resources:

The How Leaders Lead App: A vast library of 90-second leadership lessons to stay sharp on the go

Daily Insight Emails: One small (but powerful!) leadership principle to focus on each day

Whichever you choose, you can be sure you’ll get the trusted leadership advice you need to advance your career, develop your team, and grow your business.

","WEBVTT\n\n1\n00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.220\nWelcome to How Leaders Lead, where every week you get to listen in while I\n\n2\n00:00:08.220 --> 00:00:09.000\ninterview some\n\n3\n00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:11.160\nof the very best leaders in the world.\n\n4\n00:00:11.160 --> 00:00:14.900\nI break down the key learning so that by the end of the episode, you'll have\n\n5\n00:00:14.900 --> 00:00:15.560\nsomething\n\n6\n00:00:15.560 --> 00:00:19.520\nsimple you can apply as you develop into a better leader.\n\n7\n00:00:19.520 --> 00:00:21.960\nThat's what this podcast is all about.\n\n8\n00:00:21.960 --> 00:00:27.200\nToday's guest is Tom Brady, the quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.\n\n9\n00:00:27.200 --> 00:00:32.280\nAnd let's be honest, the greatest quarterback of all time.\n\n10\n00:00:32.280 --> 00:00:36.790\nNow we all go into new situations where we're expected to come in, turn the\n\n11\n00:00:36.790 --> 00:00:37.840\nteam around,\n\n12\n00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:39.040\nand perform.\n\n13\n00:00:39.040 --> 00:00:43.370\nAnd that's exactly what Tom did at the Bucks, winning the Super Bowl in his\n\n14\n00:00:43.370 --> 00:00:44.000\nvery first\n\n15\n00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:45.800\nseason at Tampa Bay.\n\n16\n00:00:45.800 --> 00:00:48.720\nI mean, that's why they call him the goat, right?\n\n17\n00:00:48.720 --> 00:00:53.340\nSo in this conversation, we really dig into what made that transition from the\n\n18\n00:00:53.340 --> 00:00:53.920\nPatriots\n\n19\n00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:57.120\nto the Bucks so darn successful.\n\n20\n00:00:57.120 --> 00:01:02.170\nNow of course, Tom is known for his elite discipline and his grit, and with\n\n21\n00:01:02.170 --> 00:01:03.240\ngood reason.\n\n22\n00:01:03.240 --> 00:01:07.950\nBut Tom is also incredible at building relationships with his teammates,\n\n23\n00:01:07.950 --> 00:01:09.880\ncoaches, and management.\n\n24\n00:01:09.880 --> 00:01:15.160\nFor us leaders, so much depends on how we connect and communicate with people.\n\n25\n00:01:15.160 --> 00:01:18.360\nDo we know how to convey our expectations clearly?\n\n26\n00:01:18.360 --> 00:01:20.680\nDo we know how to build consensus?\n\n27\n00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:25.630\nDo we have the courage to tackle the tough conversations right away and not let\n\n28\n00:01:25.630 --> 00:01:27.360\nthem fester?\n\n29\n00:01:27.360 --> 00:01:28.800\nTom sure does.\n\n30\n00:01:28.800 --> 00:01:33.700\nAnd this conversation is a goldmine of wisdom for how to build strong\n\n31\n00:01:33.700 --> 00:01:35.360\nrelationships through\n\n32\n00:01:35.360 --> 00:01:41.100\nclear communication, especially if you find yourself leading in a new situation\n\n33\n00:01:41.100 --> 00:01:41.440\n.\n\n34\n00:01:41.440 --> 00:01:47.110\nOh, and by the way, if that's not enough, Tom gives me a pretty darn direct\n\n35\n00:01:47.110 --> 00:01:47.920\nanswer when\n\n36\n00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:52.000\nI ask him if he thinks he can play until he's 50.\n\n37\n00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:53.840\nSo let's get right to it.\n\n38\n00:01:53.840 --> 00:02:04.120\nHere's my conversation with my good friend and soon to be yours, Tom Brady.\n\n39\n00:02:04.120 --> 00:02:07.270\nTom, I want to thank you first of all for doing this podcast because you've\n\n40\n00:02:07.270 --> 00:02:08.240\ndone two before,\n\n41\n00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:10.000\nbut we do have a street going.\n\n42\n00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:11.440\nI think we should keep the street going.\n\n43\n00:02:11.440 --> 00:02:14.440\nIf we break this street, then I'm not as smart as you might think I am.\n\n44\n00:02:14.440 --> 00:02:15.840\nSo we're not reading this.\n\n45\n00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:20.640\nAll right, well, let's just keep doing podcasts winning Super Bowls.\n\n46\n00:02:20.640 --> 00:02:25.260\nTom, it's not often that you get access into the psychology of one of the\n\n47\n00:02:25.260 --> 00:02:26.440\ngreatest athletes\n\n48\n00:02:26.440 --> 00:02:27.600\nof all time.\n\n49\n00:02:27.600 --> 00:02:31.080\nSo I really want to thank you for taking the time to have this conversation.\n\n50\n00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:34.080\nWell, and first of all, I'd like to say thanks for having me on.\n\n51\n00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:36.860\nI know we've done this a few times, but I think what I appreciate about what\n\n52\n00:02:36.860 --> 00:02:37.240\nyou're\n\n53\n00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:40.840\ndoing, David, is you're, you know, you have such a distinct point of view based\n\n54\n00:02:40.840 --> 00:02:41.280\non your\n\n55\n00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:45.300\nexperiences, and I think you're able to draw that out for the people that you\n\n56\n00:02:45.300 --> 00:02:45.920\ninterview,\n\n57\n00:02:45.920 --> 00:02:49.980\nand you really allow great access for people to hear what's really going on\n\n58\n00:02:49.980 --> 00:02:50.720\nbecause you\n\n59\n00:02:50.720 --> 00:02:51.920\nasked the right questions.\n\n60\n00:02:51.920 --> 00:02:56.280\nSo an interview as often as good as the interviewee, and I think you do a great\n\n61\n00:02:56.280 --> 00:02:57.280\njob really tapping\n\n62\n00:02:57.280 --> 00:02:59.600\ninto what's really important.\n\n63\n00:02:59.600 --> 00:03:04.890\nAnd certainly leadership is a big focus that as I've grown into over the years,\n\n64\n00:03:04.890 --> 00:03:05.480\nand I think\n\n65\n00:03:05.480 --> 00:03:08.380\nback to high school, you know, I was, it was something that was probably a\n\n66\n00:03:08.380 --> 00:03:08.920\nlittle more\n\n67\n00:03:08.920 --> 00:03:13.180\nnatural for me than I would say running a 40 yard dash, you know, as a captain\n\n68\n00:03:13.180 --> 00:03:13.360\nof my\n\n69\n00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:14.360\nhigh school football team.\n\n70\n00:03:14.360 --> 00:03:16.360\nI was ended up being the captain of my college team.\n\n71\n00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:21.060\nI was a captain of my pro team over all these years, and I think it's just more\n\n72\n00:03:21.060 --> 00:03:22.160\nof a natural\n\n73\n00:03:22.160 --> 00:03:25.600\nthing for me than some other things that have been much more challenging.\n\n74\n00:03:25.600 --> 00:03:29.340\nIt's one thing, from my experience, to have the freedom of new possibilities of\n\n75\n00:03:29.340 --> 00:03:30.280\ngoing into\n\n76\n00:03:30.280 --> 00:03:35.430\na new situation like you did with Tampa Bay versus having to cope with year\n\n77\n00:03:35.430 --> 00:03:36.240\nafter year\n\n78\n00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:39.480\nhigh expectations like you had it in New England.\n\n79\n00:03:39.480 --> 00:03:43.590\nJust how different is it to go into the pressure of performing in a new\n\n80\n00:03:43.590 --> 00:03:44.560\nsituation?\n\n81\n00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:48.380\nAs I think about a new situation last year that I was coming into, I tried to\n\n82\n00:03:48.380 --> 00:03:48.880\napply a\n\n83\n00:03:48.880 --> 00:03:52.270\nlot of things I had learned over the years, and certainly a lot of the people\n\n84\n00:03:52.270 --> 00:03:52.680\nthat I have\n\n85\n00:03:52.680 --> 00:03:54.560\nbeen around over the years that I have learned from.\n\n86\n00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:57.530\nAnd, you know, as we've talked about before, you know, one of your beliefs\n\n87\n00:03:57.530 --> 00:03:58.120\nleadership is\n\n88\n00:03:58.120 --> 00:04:01.910\nabout caring for people, you know, and being a lifelong learner and curiosity\n\n89\n00:04:01.910 --> 00:04:02.400\nand all those\n\n90\n00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:07.080\nthings I feel like have been really important to my overall success, but\n\n91\n00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:08.240\ncertainly going\n\n92\n00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:12.020\ninto a new situation last year as it kind of really knocks you in the face like\n\n93\n00:04:12.020 --> 00:04:12.600\n, \"Oh,\n\n94\n00:04:12.600 --> 00:04:13.600\nthis is where we're at.\n\n95\n00:04:13.600 --> 00:04:15.080\nThis is what we got to do.\"\n\n96\n00:04:15.080 --> 00:04:20.210\nYou know, in order to get our team going in the right direction, so much is\n\n97\n00:04:20.210 --> 00:04:21.520\nabout, \"Yeah,\n\n98\n00:04:21.520 --> 00:04:24.600\nprocess and the plays and doing the right thing.\"\n\n99\n00:04:24.600 --> 00:04:28.730\nBut it's also about caring for one another, having a line interest and, you\n\n100\n00:04:28.730 --> 00:04:29.520\nknow, a goal\n\n101\n00:04:29.520 --> 00:04:33.210\nof obviously winning a Super Bowl, which we had, but, you know, ultimately for\n\n102\n00:04:33.210 --> 00:04:33.560\nme, the\n\n103\n00:04:33.560 --> 00:04:36.910\nquarterback, the great opportunity I have on the field is I actually get to do\n\n104\n00:04:36.910 --> 00:04:37.080\nit, you\n\n105\n00:04:37.080 --> 00:04:38.080\nknow.\n\n106\n00:04:38.080 --> 00:04:41.040\nIt's not like I'm in necessarily a management position.\n\n107\n00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:44.480\nI get the opportunity to actually go out there and do it with my teammates.\n\n108\n00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:49.800\nSo I guess applying these values of leadership, but actually being able to do\n\n109\n00:04:49.800 --> 00:04:50.640\nthem in the\n\n110\n00:04:50.640 --> 00:04:55.250\nfield with my teammates, you know, is really one of the most rewarding\n\n111\n00:04:55.250 --> 00:04:56.480\nexperiences that\n\n112\n00:04:56.480 --> 00:04:57.520\nI've ever had in my life.\n\n113\n00:04:57.520 --> 00:04:59.840\nLet's talk about that a little more.\n\n114\n00:04:59.840 --> 00:05:02.680\nLooking back, what was the biggest eye opener for you?\n\n115\n00:05:02.680 --> 00:05:07.910\nOne of the amazing memories last year, I think, signing with the Bucks in March\n\n116\n00:05:07.910 --> 00:05:08.120\n, going\n\n117\n00:05:08.120 --> 00:05:12.790\nthrough coronavirus, but actually getting to know my teammates and seeing kind\n\n118\n00:05:12.790 --> 00:05:13.520\nof, you\n\n119\n00:05:13.520 --> 00:05:15.600\nknow, my 21st season.\n\n120\n00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:19.060\nSo there was a lot of experience in football, you know, \"Okay, this is where I\n\n121\n00:05:19.060 --> 00:05:20.280\nthink I can\n\n122\n00:05:20.280 --> 00:05:21.640\nmake the most of our time.\n\n123\n00:05:21.640 --> 00:05:25.130\nThis is how I feel like I can, whether that was a physical thing, whether it\n\n124\n00:05:25.130 --> 00:05:25.800\nwas a mental\n\n125\n00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:27.720\nthing, you know, this is the play that I like.\n\n126\n00:05:27.720 --> 00:05:30.870\nThis is where I think we need to improve physically is how you need to improve\n\n127\n00:05:30.870 --> 00:05:31.160\nyour\n\n128\n00:05:31.160 --> 00:05:32.160\nroute running.\"\n\n129\n00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:35.400\nYou know, and then emotionally, I saw being on the same page.\n\n130\n00:05:35.400 --> 00:05:38.760\nSo it's a lot of touch and feel, too, on a daily basis for me.\n\n131\n00:05:38.760 --> 00:05:42.280\nAnd at the same time, trying to maintain my own level of performance.\n\n132\n00:05:42.280 --> 00:05:43.760\nSo a lot goes into it.\n\n133\n00:05:43.760 --> 00:05:48.240\nAnd I think, like I said, it's very rewarding when it all comes together and\n\n134\n00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:49.080\nyou win, but\n\n135\n00:05:49.080 --> 00:05:53.250\nI'm more so than the win, you know, I think the joy for the year for me was in\n\n136\n00:05:53.250 --> 00:05:54.320\nthe journey.\n\n137\n00:05:54.320 --> 00:05:57.930\nYou know, meeting a new group of people and I had an amazing two decade career\n\n138\n00:05:57.930 --> 00:05:58.320\nat one\n\n139\n00:05:58.320 --> 00:06:02.260\nplace, but then going to a new place and applying a lot of the things I had\n\n140\n00:06:02.260 --> 00:06:02.920\nlearned,\n\n141\n00:06:02.920 --> 00:06:07.050\nplus learning a lot of new things from a new group of people, you know,\n\n142\n00:06:07.050 --> 00:06:07.880\nlearning.\n\n143\n00:06:07.880 --> 00:06:09.680\nThere are different ways to do things.\n\n144\n00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:11.560\nWhen I was in one place, we did it one way.\n\n145\n00:06:11.560 --> 00:06:12.560\nThat was it.\n\n146\n00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:13.560\nThere was just one way to do things.\n\n147\n00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:18.000\nI go to Tampa last year and it's a different way.\n\n148\n00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:19.000\nAnd that's okay.\n\n149\n00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:22.800\nAnd we were able to achieve and perform at a high level in a different way,\n\n150\n00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:23.440\nwhich really\n\n151\n00:06:23.440 --> 00:06:28.740\nopened my eyes and was very satisfying of, you know, okay, like this is a great\n\n152\n00:06:28.740 --> 00:06:29.040\nway\n\n153\n00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:30.240\nto win as well.\n\n154\n00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:33.930\nYou know, Tom, so many people ask themselves the wrong questions when they go\n\n155\n00:06:33.930 --> 00:06:34.440\ninto a new\n\n156\n00:06:34.440 --> 00:06:35.440\nsituation.\n\n157\n00:06:35.440 --> 00:06:37.600\nIt's like, what happens if I fail?\n\n158\n00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:40.280\nWhat will others think if I don't win here?\n\n159\n00:06:40.280 --> 00:06:43.440\nDid you have any of those inner dragons pop up in your head?\n\n160\n00:06:43.440 --> 00:06:44.920\nNo, I didn't.\n\n161\n00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:46.200\nThat's a great question.\n\n162\n00:06:46.200 --> 00:06:48.880\nAnd Larry Fitzgerald and I talked about this one time.\n\n163\n00:06:48.880 --> 00:06:52.540\nYou know, what comes with failure and why that really limits people from\n\n164\n00:06:52.540 --> 00:06:53.320\nsucceeding,\n\n165\n00:06:53.320 --> 00:06:54.320\nyou know?\n\n166\n00:06:54.320 --> 00:06:58.490\nAnd again, I think there's a naivete about me that, you know, what do you mean,\n\n167\n00:06:58.490 --> 00:06:59.200\nfailure?\n\n168\n00:06:59.200 --> 00:07:00.640\nI don't even know what you're talking about.\n\n169\n00:07:00.640 --> 00:07:03.200\nLike, you know, you try and if it doesn't work, you know, it doesn't work, but\n\n170\n00:07:03.200 --> 00:07:03.640\nit's not\n\n171\n00:07:03.640 --> 00:07:04.640\nfailing, you know?\n\n172\n00:07:04.640 --> 00:07:09.400\nAnd I think if you're thinking about failing, man, what if this doesn't go\n\n173\n00:07:09.400 --> 00:07:10.080\nright?\n\n174\n00:07:10.080 --> 00:07:15.370\nYeah, that's, it's really hard to be, you know, your true spontaneous, joyful\n\n175\n00:07:15.370 --> 00:07:16.040\nself.\n\n176\n00:07:16.040 --> 00:07:20.600\nYou're trying to, you know, not fail is a lot different than trying to succeed.\n\n177\n00:07:20.600 --> 00:07:23.820\nI mean, the best players I've ever seen them when the moment's not too big for\n\n178\n00:07:23.820 --> 00:07:24.200\nthem is\n\n179\n00:07:24.200 --> 00:07:26.400\nthey don't really don't care what comes along with failure.\n\n180\n00:07:26.400 --> 00:07:30.280\nYou know, they know how to deal with it or they've dealt with it in the past or\n\n181\n00:07:30.280 --> 00:07:30.320\n, you\n\n182\n00:07:30.320 --> 00:07:33.600\nknow, they understand, okay, this is, this is not that big a deal.\n\n183\n00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:35.000\nLet me just give it all I got.\n\n184\n00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:38.720\nAnd, you know, that's the way to ultimately go about things is to not think\n\n185\n00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:39.280\nabout what\n\n186\n00:07:39.280 --> 00:07:40.760\nhappens if it doesn't go well.\n\n187\n00:07:40.760 --> 00:07:42.600\nYou know, that'll set you back.\n\n188\n00:07:42.600 --> 00:07:45.880\nYou know, you don't have much of a chance of success if you do that.\n\n189\n00:07:45.880 --> 00:07:48.950\nWell, what are the good questions you think that a leader needs to ask\n\n190\n00:07:48.950 --> 00:07:49.800\nthemselves when\n\n191\n00:07:49.800 --> 00:07:51.440\nthey go into a new situation?\n\n192\n00:07:51.440 --> 00:07:55.480\nI think obviously I haven't a lot of self-awareness to be able to evaluate,\n\n193\n00:07:55.480 --> 00:07:56.880\nokay, what exact situation\n\n194\n00:07:56.880 --> 00:07:59.160\nam I getting myself into?\n\n195\n00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:02.400\nAnd what can I do to help the situation?\n\n196\n00:08:02.400 --> 00:08:06.480\nYou know, again, football is pretty simple, you know, in the sense that, you\n\n197\n00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:07.120\nknow, it's\n\n198\n00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:11.390\na pretty specific position I was entering, you know, if, if you're a head coach\n\n199\n00:08:11.390 --> 00:08:12.080\nor entering\n\n200\n00:08:12.080 --> 00:08:15.480\na different type of position, you know, you're going as a, as a quarterback and\n\n201\n00:08:15.480 --> 00:08:16.040\nI'm looking\n\n202\n00:08:16.040 --> 00:08:21.580\nat how I played quarterback for 20 years and I'm looking at how the person here\n\n203\n00:08:21.580 --> 00:08:21.720\nplayed\n\n204\n00:08:21.720 --> 00:08:27.050\nquarterback prior to me and I'm going, okay, well, if I was in that situation,\n\n205\n00:08:27.050 --> 00:08:27.320\nthis is\n\n206\n00:08:27.320 --> 00:08:29.360\nthe decision I would have made.\n\n207\n00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:34.250\nAnd then it's just a daily process of, okay, this is my job and this is how I'm\n\n208\n00:08:34.250 --> 00:08:34.800\ngoing to\n\n209\n00:08:34.800 --> 00:08:40.210\ntry to improve this position on the team, you know, through a communication,\n\n210\n00:08:40.210 --> 00:08:40.960\nhumility,\n\n211\n00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:43.320\nrespect, caring, learning.\n\n212\n00:08:43.320 --> 00:08:46.870\nI mean, everybody does that to different degrees, but again, you've got to be\n\n213\n00:08:46.870 --> 00:08:47.560\nable to apply\n\n214\n00:08:47.560 --> 00:08:52.390\nthose, you know, real time and again, some of it's physical, some of it's\n\n215\n00:08:52.390 --> 00:08:53.320\nmental, some\n\n216\n00:08:53.320 --> 00:08:57.310\nof it's emotional and you have probably a broad overall strategy that you're\n\n217\n00:08:57.310 --> 00:08:57.760\ntrying\n\n218\n00:08:57.760 --> 00:08:58.880\nto accomplish.\n\n219\n00:08:58.880 --> 00:09:02.310\nBut then there's also little details that you've got to be able to figure out\n\n220\n00:09:02.310 --> 00:09:02.920\non a daily\n\n221\n00:09:02.920 --> 00:09:05.040\nbasis and it takes a long time.\n\n222\n00:09:05.040 --> 00:09:08.990\nIt doesn't happen overnight because if you come in and, you know, the last\n\n223\n00:09:08.990 --> 00:09:09.800\nthing anyone\n\n224\n00:09:09.800 --> 00:09:12.320\nwants to hear is, hey, this is what we did at the Patriots.\n\n225\n00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:13.920\nYou know, no one wants to hear that.\n\n226\n00:09:13.920 --> 00:09:18.000\nLike, I remember when being a package coach, people would say, well, I worked\n\n227\n00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:18.600\nat Procter\n\n228\n00:09:18.600 --> 00:09:21.240\nand Gavil, they would go, oh, they start the gag.\n\n229\n00:09:21.240 --> 00:09:22.560\nYou know, the same thing.\n\n230\n00:09:22.560 --> 00:09:24.640\nI mean, nobody wants to hear that.\n\n231\n00:09:24.640 --> 00:09:28.120\nAnd I was really conscious, like, I don't want to hear that either.\n\n232\n00:09:28.120 --> 00:09:29.120\nYou know what I mean?\n\n233\n00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:31.680\nI want to earn what we're doing going forward.\n\n234\n00:09:31.680 --> 00:09:34.960\nAnd you know, this is how the Bucks do it.\n\n235\n00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:37.600\nAnd this is how I think I can help improve what we're doing.\n\n236\n00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:40.800\nAnd I was very, you know, I came into a situation where everybody was really\n\n237\n00:09:40.800 --> 00:09:41.680\nreceptive of that\n\n238\n00:09:41.680 --> 00:09:42.680\nas well.\n\n239\n00:09:42.680 --> 00:09:44.720\nThey really allowed me to be who I am.\n\n240\n00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:48.150\nAnd I think I'm very grateful for the leadership that is here prior to me with\n\n241\n00:09:48.150 --> 00:09:49.000\nthe players,\n\n242\n00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:54.430\nsome of the real veteran core players that were doing an amazing job at what\n\n243\n00:09:54.430 --> 00:09:55.120\nthey did\n\n244\n00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:59.720\nand an amazing coaching staff that the coaches are, you know, they provide a\n\n245\n00:09:59.720 --> 00:10:01.040\nhuge responsibility\n\n246\n00:10:01.040 --> 00:10:02.040\non the team.\n\n247\n00:10:02.040 --> 00:10:04.640\nBut the one thing the coaches can't do is they can't play.\n\n248\n00:10:04.640 --> 00:10:09.430\nAnd the players, as much as they want to coach and give strategy and leadership\n\n249\n00:10:09.430 --> 00:10:10.080\n, it's up\n\n250\n00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:11.920\nto the players to go execute.\n\n251\n00:10:11.920 --> 00:10:16.040\nAnd I've always loved being in the playing because I get to go do it.\n\n252\n00:10:16.040 --> 00:10:19.500\nBut the coaches really allowed me to be the best I could be as well, which I\n\n253\n00:10:19.500 --> 00:10:20.320\nwas obviously\n\n254\n00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:22.640\nvery grateful for.\n\n255\n00:10:22.640 --> 00:10:25.440\nYou know, Tom, you're such a big believer in culture.\n\n256\n00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:26.800\nAnd we've talked about this before.\n\n257\n00:10:26.800 --> 00:10:30.260\nAnd I remember you telling me when you were with the Patriots, you said, no\n\n258\n00:10:30.260 --> 00:10:30.920\ndifference\n\n259\n00:10:30.920 --> 00:10:33.240\nbetween us and the other teams.\n\n260\n00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:37.650\nIt's three o'clock, Tuesday afternoon, it's snowing, it's freezing, and we're\n\n261\n00:10:37.650 --> 00:10:38.120\nout there\n\n262\n00:10:38.120 --> 00:10:40.120\ngoing through it.\n\n263\n00:10:40.120 --> 00:10:44.240\nIt's just, you know, we got to win this drive to win the Super Bowl.\n\n264\n00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:48.680\nAnd so, you know, when you got to the Bucks, what did you see in the difference\n\n265\n00:10:48.680 --> 00:10:49.240\nbetween\n\n266\n00:10:49.240 --> 00:10:52.840\nthe cultures versus what you had at the Patriots?\n\n267\n00:10:52.840 --> 00:10:54.840\nThere's a lot of things.\n\n268\n00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:58.280\nIt's really very different in every aspect.\n\n269\n00:10:58.280 --> 00:11:02.220\nAnd again, it's not, I mean, just think of the climates, first of all, the\n\n270\n00:11:02.220 --> 00:11:02.880\nNortheast\n\n271\n00:11:02.880 --> 00:11:08.560\nis very different than the Southeast, you know, being down in Tampa, the most\n\n272\n00:11:08.560 --> 00:11:09.320\ndifficult\n\n273\n00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:12.640\npart of the season in Tampa is August.\n\n274\n00:11:12.640 --> 00:11:16.930\nAnd when it's just incredibly hot and humid, the season gets much easier for\n\n275\n00:11:16.930 --> 00:11:17.680\nthe players\n\n276\n00:11:17.680 --> 00:11:20.400\nas the season goes because the weather gets better.\n\n277\n00:11:20.400 --> 00:11:22.440\nSo you really need to be in good shape early.\n\n278\n00:11:22.440 --> 00:11:25.960\nYou know, up in the Northeast, it's very different.\n\n279\n00:11:25.960 --> 00:11:29.610\nThe season gets much harder as the season goes because the climate gets much\n\n280\n00:11:29.610 --> 00:11:31.080\ncolder.\n\n281\n00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:36.220\nI mean, the practice facility, the lifestyle, the aspects of football are very\n\n282\n00:11:36.220 --> 00:11:37.120\ndifferent.\n\n283\n00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:41.630\nI mean, when you're a warm weather team, it's much more suited to the passing\n\n284\n00:11:41.630 --> 00:11:42.640\ngame than\n\n285\n00:11:42.640 --> 00:11:44.760\nbeing in a cold weather climate.\n\n286\n00:11:44.760 --> 00:11:48.080\nIt's a difference between golf and Palm Springs and golf in Northern Ireland.\n\n287\n00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:52.480\nI mean, it's just, it's a different style.\n\n288\n00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:55.320\nThere's much more activity for the players off the field down here.\n\n289\n00:11:55.320 --> 00:11:59.200\nThere's beaches, there's clubs, there's night light, there's casinos.\n\n290\n00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:00.720\nI mean, in Northeast, there's none of that.\n\n291\n00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:02.360\nYou don't have to deal with any of those things.\n\n292\n00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:06.220\nI mean, this is such a destination for people to come on vacation, you know, up\n\n293\n00:12:06.220 --> 00:12:06.920\nin Foxborough,\n\n294\n00:12:06.920 --> 00:12:09.360\nMassachusetts, that's not really a destination.\n\n295\n00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:13.110\nAnd then when it comes to the football, you know, I would say coach Arians, he\n\n296\n00:12:13.110 --> 00:12:14.040\n's an incredible\n\n297\n00:12:14.040 --> 00:12:16.400\nleader, but he's not a micromanager.\n\n298\n00:12:16.400 --> 00:12:19.410\nHe allows the coaches to, okay, you guys coach, I'm going to see what I'm going\n\n299\n00:12:19.410 --> 00:12:19.920\nto see and\n\n300\n00:12:19.920 --> 00:12:22.960\nI'm going to add my input where I think I need to add it.\n\n301\n00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:27.320\nAnd you know, coach Pelachec is very hands on with the defense, a little less\n\n302\n00:12:27.320 --> 00:12:27.840\nso with\n\n303\n00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:30.880\nthe offense, but a lot with the special teams.\n\n304\n00:12:30.880 --> 00:12:34.680\nAnd obviously coronavirus, I really haven't had a normal season yet.\n\n305\n00:12:34.680 --> 00:12:39.450\nYou know, one season it was, you know, with COVID last year, it was entirely me\n\n306\n00:12:39.450 --> 00:12:40.240\n, I haven't\n\n307\n00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:41.960\neven had a full stadium yet.\n\n308\n00:12:41.960 --> 00:12:46.230\nYou know, again, it's just a lot of things getting used to, and it was good for\n\n309\n00:12:46.230 --> 00:12:46.960\nmy brain,\n\n310\n00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:50.540\nyou know, it was good for my brain to relearn a drive to work as simple as that\n\n311\n00:12:50.540 --> 00:12:51.520\nsounds.\n\n312\n00:12:51.520 --> 00:12:55.200\nWith to learn new restaurants or to learn new neighborhoods.\n\n313\n00:12:55.200 --> 00:12:58.070\nWas there something Tom that you felt as a leader when you got there and you\n\n314\n00:12:58.070 --> 00:12:58.440\nsaw the\n\n315\n00:12:58.440 --> 00:13:02.680\nculture, which different for obvious reasons that you talked about?\n\n316\n00:13:02.680 --> 00:13:05.630\nWas there something that you felt like you needed to help the team change,\n\n317\n00:13:05.630 --> 00:13:06.160\nsomething\n\n318\n00:13:06.160 --> 00:13:08.640\nthat you really felt needed to be added to the culture?\n\n319\n00:13:08.640 --> 00:13:14.170\nI felt like, you know, me being myself and doing my job was, you know, going to\n\n320\n00:13:14.170 --> 00:13:14.880\n, going\n\n321\n00:13:14.880 --> 00:13:19.000\nto, based on my experience and what I had gone through, if I can provide some\n\n322\n00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:19.800\nconsistency\n\n323\n00:13:19.800 --> 00:13:25.240\nand continuity to the position and a high level of play, I mean, there was so\n\n324\n00:13:25.240 --> 00:13:26.080\nmany players\n\n325\n00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:30.270\nthat were receptive to what I could bring because the beneficiary of a good\n\n326\n00:13:30.270 --> 00:13:31.120\nquarterback\n\n327\n00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:36.550\nis good skill position players, good receivers, good tight ends, you know, the\n\n328\n00:13:36.550 --> 00:13:37.200\nline.\n\n329\n00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:41.200\nI mean, I can improve all those positions just by me being me.\n\n330\n00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:44.640\nAnd you know, I have a great understanding of the game of football.\n\n331\n00:13:44.640 --> 00:13:48.300\nI played it for a long time, you know, and it doesn't take away from what the\n\n332\n00:13:48.300 --> 00:13:48.920\nguy before\n\n333\n00:13:48.920 --> 00:13:50.960\nme, James, was trying to do here.\n\n334\n00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:52.680\nIt's just, I've had a lot of experience.\n\n335\n00:13:52.680 --> 00:13:53.920\nI know how to get things done.\n\n336\n00:13:53.920 --> 00:13:55.680\nI know how to play the game.\n\n337\n00:13:55.680 --> 00:13:59.000\nI think through the game more mentally than physically.\n\n338\n00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:03.960\nYou know, I believe that football is 60 or 70% mental.\n\n339\n00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:07.880\nAnd yeah, I need to physically be able to be capable past the football.\n\n340\n00:14:07.880 --> 00:14:12.910\nBut at the same time, my brain is going to allow me to excel and not my\n\n341\n00:14:12.910 --> 00:14:14.440\nphysical traits.\n\n342\n00:14:14.440 --> 00:14:18.390\nYou know, every leader that you come in that new situation and you've got to\n\n343\n00:14:18.390 --> 00:14:19.080\naddress the\n\n344\n00:14:19.080 --> 00:14:20.920\nteam.\n\n345\n00:14:20.920 --> 00:14:23.630\nAnd you weren't the coach, but you were Tom Brady, you're the quarterback and\n\n346\n00:14:23.630 --> 00:14:24.000\nyou're\n\n347\n00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:26.200\ngoing to be the leader of the team just by that.\n\n348\n00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:27.200\nOkay.\n\n349\n00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:31.080\nBut tell us about the first time you addressed your team.\n\n350\n00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:32.560\nWhat did you say to them?\n\n351\n00:14:32.560 --> 00:14:36.840\nI did it in probably groups of people rather than an entire team.\n\n352\n00:14:36.840 --> 00:14:40.680\nI think when I got here, there was kind of a group of players, maybe four guys\n\n353\n00:14:40.680 --> 00:14:41.360\nI got together\n\n354\n00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:45.520\nwith that four turned into seven, that seven turned into 10, that 10 turned\n\n355\n00:14:45.520 --> 00:14:46.120\ninto like\n\n356\n00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:48.160\n12 or 13.\n\n357\n00:14:48.160 --> 00:14:52.600\nAnd at that point, I thought I had a really good relationship with those 12 or\n\n358\n00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:53.360\n13 guys\n\n359\n00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:58.520\nwhere they really could start to feel my presence and feel my personality.\n\n360\n00:14:58.520 --> 00:15:02.000\nYou know, I'm not someone that lets the details go.\n\n361\n00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:06.180\nI mean, I think I'm very intent on getting things done the way they needed to\n\n362\n00:15:06.180 --> 00:15:06.840\nget done.\n\n363\n00:15:06.840 --> 00:15:10.820\nI mean, and a lot of things I've learned over the years, again, don't mistake\n\n364\n00:15:10.820 --> 00:15:11.400\nactivity\n\n365\n00:15:11.400 --> 00:15:12.960\nfor achievement.\n\n366\n00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:15.490\nYou know, we say don't think that's just because you're breaking sweat, you're\n\n367\n00:15:15.490 --> 00:15:15.880\ngetting\n\n368\n00:15:15.880 --> 00:15:16.880\nanything done.\n\n369\n00:15:16.880 --> 00:15:19.440\nI mean, we're not out there just to run around.\n\n370\n00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:23.870\nAnd I think working hard at the wrong things allows you to get better at\n\n371\n00:15:23.870 --> 00:15:25.240\ngetting worse.\n\n372\n00:15:25.240 --> 00:15:28.160\nAnd you know, if we're going to work, we're going to work at the right things.\n\n373\n00:15:28.160 --> 00:15:30.680\nAnd I think from the day that I got here, I said, okay, these are the things\n\n374\n00:15:30.680 --> 00:15:31.040\nthat I'm\n\n375\n00:15:31.040 --> 00:15:32.360\ngoing to apply on the field.\n\n376\n00:15:32.360 --> 00:15:34.760\nI know these are the things that are going to come up.\n\n377\n00:15:34.760 --> 00:15:36.080\nThis is what we're going to work on.\n\n378\n00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:39.520\nAnd I started that with just individual workouts with those three or four\n\n379\n00:15:39.520 --> 00:15:40.160\nplayers.\n\n380\n00:15:40.160 --> 00:15:42.280\nAnd I tried to improve that to the seven guys.\n\n381\n00:15:42.280 --> 00:15:44.560\nAnd I tried to improve that to the 10 guys.\n\n382\n00:15:44.560 --> 00:15:47.900\nAnd by the time we got to training camp, I felt like, okay, we're at a decent\n\n383\n00:15:47.900 --> 00:15:48.480\nplace.\n\n384\n00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:51.400\nThe one thing in pro sports that's most important is continuity.\n\n385\n00:15:51.400 --> 00:15:53.200\nAnd I'm sure it's a lot like business.\n\n386\n00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:58.250\nThe more you're with groups of people, the more you're allowed to really\n\n387\n00:15:58.250 --> 00:15:59.280\nanticipate where\n\n388\n00:15:59.280 --> 00:16:02.480\nthe issues lie and how quickly you can solve the problems.\n\n389\n00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:03.480\nIt's different in football.\n\n390\n00:16:03.480 --> 00:16:09.340\nFootball is a simple game, but it's hard to get 11 people on the same page\n\n391\n00:16:09.340 --> 00:16:09.960\nevery single\n\n392\n00:16:09.960 --> 00:16:10.960\nplay.\n\n393\n00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:13.800\nAnd then when you add that to the defense, those 11 guys.\n\n394\n00:16:13.800 --> 00:16:16.920\nAnd then when you add that to a special team's unit, those 11 guys.\n\n395\n00:16:16.920 --> 00:16:20.960\nSo then you add that to the other guys who play more roles on the team.\n\n396\n00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:23.040\nAnd you add that to a coaching staff.\n\n397\n00:16:23.040 --> 00:16:24.640\nThat's the challenge of football.\n\n398\n00:16:24.640 --> 00:16:26.240\nYou know, I could do that with the offense.\n\n399\n00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:29.180\nIt took a while for us to really come together, but I thought that was pretty\n\n400\n00:16:29.180 --> 00:16:29.800\nnatural part\n\n401\n00:16:29.800 --> 00:16:30.800\nof the progression.\n\n402\n00:16:30.800 --> 00:16:34.980\nYou know, it's hard to just come out of the gates and be firing on all\n\n403\n00:16:34.980 --> 00:16:36.000\ncylinders when\n\n404\n00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:37.840\nyou've never had the opportunity to be together.\n\n405\n00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:41.580\nWas there a specific moment, Tom, when you knew that you started out with seven\n\n406\n00:16:41.580 --> 00:16:41.960\n, you\n\n407\n00:16:41.960 --> 00:16:46.150\ngo to 12, you keep adding, but was there a specific moment where you had the\n\n408\n00:16:46.150 --> 00:16:46.960\nteam looking\n\n409\n00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:49.320\nto you as the leader?\n\n410\n00:16:49.320 --> 00:16:54.170\nDid that happen automatically just because of your track record or do you\n\n411\n00:16:54.170 --> 00:16:55.160\nrecall a moment\n\n412\n00:16:55.160 --> 00:16:58.600\nwhere you said, hey, there look, I've got the team now.\n\n413\n00:16:58.600 --> 00:16:59.600\nEveryone's pretty receptive.\n\n414\n00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:03.270\nI mean, I think by the time that training camp started, the guys were pretty\n\n415\n00:17:03.270 --> 00:17:04.040\nreceptive to\n\n416\n00:17:04.040 --> 00:17:08.120\nsaying, all right, Tom, we're here to do what you'd love for us to do.\n\n417\n00:17:08.120 --> 00:17:11.710\nI mean, from a player standpoint, that's my guys, the guys that I'm doing\n\n418\n00:17:11.710 --> 00:17:12.440\nbattle with\n\n419\n00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:18.000\nout there, they're looking to me saying, okay, get it done for us.\n\n420\n00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:22.320\nAnd I think as the season went along, I got a little more trust to the defense.\n\n421\n00:17:22.320 --> 00:17:26.020\nI got a little more trust to the coaching staff because, again, the coaching\n\n422\n00:17:26.020 --> 00:17:26.840\nstaff provides\n\n423\n00:17:26.840 --> 00:17:28.960\ngreat a roadmap.\n\n424\n00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:31.880\nAnd we want to follow that roadmap as players.\n\n425\n00:17:31.880 --> 00:17:38.060\nAnd again, they're super receptive to me having input into those things and\n\n426\n00:17:38.060 --> 00:17:39.320\nvice versa.\n\n427\n00:17:39.320 --> 00:17:43.680\nIt's not like Tom Brady walks in and he says, hey, do all these things.\n\n428\n00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:45.800\nAnd I don't think that's the way to do it.\n\n429\n00:17:45.800 --> 00:17:47.640\nYou say, hey, how do we do it?\n\n430\n00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:49.320\nAnd they teach me.\n\n431\n00:17:49.320 --> 00:17:51.920\nAnd at the same time, I say, okay, well, I like that.\n\n432\n00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:54.880\nI'd love to do this because this is the way that I've done it for 20 years.\n\n433\n00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:59.370\nAnd I can really anticipate these things and I'm really good at running these\n\n434\n00:17:59.370 --> 00:18:00.000\nplays.\n\n435\n00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:01.760\nAnd they'd say, great, let's do those things.\n\n436\n00:18:01.760 --> 00:18:05.260\nAnd I think it was a great combination of things that we're able to learn from\n\n437\n00:18:05.260 --> 00:18:05.720\none another\n\n438\n00:18:05.720 --> 00:18:09.460\nthat allowed us to reach the point where we wanted to reach by the end of the\n\n439\n00:18:09.460 --> 00:18:10.000\nyear.\n\n440\n00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:11.800\nSo Tom, you come in this new situation.\n\n441\n00:18:11.800 --> 00:18:13.280\nYou have a lot of new players.\n\n442\n00:18:13.280 --> 00:18:14.480\nYou got to get to know.\n\n443\n00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:17.560\nHow did you go about assessing the talent you had to work with?\n\n444\n00:18:17.560 --> 00:18:19.840\nI did a lot of that before I even got here.\n\n445\n00:18:19.840 --> 00:18:23.410\nI was kind of looking around and forgetting, she's saying, where can I go be\n\n446\n00:18:23.410 --> 00:18:24.480\nsuccessful?\n\n447\n00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:29.600\nAnd what place can allow me to be the player that I'm capable of being?\n\n448\n00:18:29.600 --> 00:18:34.070\nYou know, it's if you're running back and you don't have an old line, it doesn\n\n449\n00:18:34.070 --> 00:18:34.200\n't matter\n\n450\n00:18:34.200 --> 00:18:35.560\nhow good you are running back.\n\n451\n00:18:35.560 --> 00:18:39.290\nIf you're a cornerback and you don't have a good pass rush, you're not going to\n\n452\n00:18:39.290 --> 00:18:39.640\nbe that\n\n453\n00:18:39.640 --> 00:18:40.640\ngood of a player.\n\n454\n00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:44.100\nIf you're a quarterback and you don't have guys to throw the ball to, it's\n\n455\n00:18:44.100 --> 00:18:44.720\ngoing to be\n\n456\n00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:48.960\nvery difficult for you to showcase your abilities on the field.\n\n457\n00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:55.060\nSo part of my choosing Tampa was I looked and I saw Mike Evans and I saw Chris\n\n458\n00:18:55.060 --> 00:18:55.840\nGodwin and\n\n459\n00:18:55.840 --> 00:19:01.200\nI saw Cam Braid and OJ Howard and I was like, they have a lot of talent.\n\n460\n00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:05.920\nIf I can play with those guys, I think I can really be the player I want to be.\n\n461\n00:19:05.920 --> 00:19:08.400\nAnd then I was able to choose here.\n\n462\n00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:10.440\nRob Gronkowski came out of retirement.\n\n463\n00:19:10.440 --> 00:19:14.000\nAntonio Brown, we signed Antonio Brown midway through the year.\n\n464\n00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:17.200\nAt that point, I had a lot of talented players I was working with.\n\n465\n00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:21.490\nAnd it's really fun for me because again, on the other end of those passes that\n\n466\n00:19:21.490 --> 00:19:22.120\nI'm throwing,\n\n467\n00:19:22.120 --> 00:19:23.800\nthey need to be completed.\n\n468\n00:19:23.800 --> 00:19:28.780\nAnd I had a high level of talent that I was working with that was able to catch\n\n469\n00:19:28.780 --> 00:19:29.560\nthe passes\n\n470\n00:19:29.560 --> 00:19:31.600\nand make me look good.\n\n471\n00:19:31.600 --> 00:19:32.600\nAbsolutely.\n\n472\n00:19:32.600 --> 00:19:36.020\nIt's really fun to go, man, I want to see how great I can be, but I can only be\n\n473\n00:19:36.020 --> 00:19:36.440\ngreat\n\n474\n00:19:36.440 --> 00:19:38.240\nif the other guys are on me are great.\n\n475\n00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:43.060\nAnd I have a great group of players not only last year, but I'm really excited\n\n476\n00:19:43.060 --> 00:19:43.680\nto see what\n\n477\n00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:47.200\nwe can accomplish this year because now we got a year under our belt together.\n\n478\n00:19:47.200 --> 00:19:50.040\nYeah, well, the whole world's waiting to see that happen.\n\n479\n00:19:50.040 --> 00:19:54.560\nTom, you have a process that you use for going one-on-one with a new teammate?\n\n480\n00:19:54.560 --> 00:19:56.640\nI think a lot of it's listening.\n\n481\n00:19:56.640 --> 00:20:02.480\nI've said this in my personal life, but also in my professional life, CCC,\n\n482\n00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:03.400\nclear current\n\n483\n00:20:03.400 --> 00:20:06.960\ncommunication and why that's so important.\n\n484\n00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:11.140\nReally being clear, not, man, I'm going to say something and see if they can\n\n485\n00:20:11.140 --> 00:20:11.800\nfigure it\n\n486\n00:20:11.800 --> 00:20:18.130\nout or I'm going to try to dance around a topic and then current, what's\n\n487\n00:20:18.130 --> 00:20:19.240\nhappening\n\n488\n00:20:19.240 --> 00:20:22.590\nin the moment, not, hey, this thing happened two months ago and it's really\n\n489\n00:20:22.590 --> 00:20:23.440\nbothering me.\n\n490\n00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:27.360\nIt's, no, hey, this is the situation we're currently dealing with.\n\n491\n00:20:27.360 --> 00:20:28.560\nAnd you got to communicate.\n\n492\n00:20:28.560 --> 00:20:31.440\nAnd so many people don't want to communicate.\n\n493\n00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:36.820\nSo many people want to just keep to themselves, silo their conversations, deal\n\n494\n00:20:36.820 --> 00:20:37.440\nwith people\n\n495\n00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:42.810\nthat only are going to agree with them and I believe in CCC, hey, be really\n\n496\n00:20:42.810 --> 00:20:43.560\nclear about\n\n497\n00:20:43.560 --> 00:20:47.510\nwhat it is and let's be really current about what we're talking about and let's\n\n498\n00:20:47.510 --> 00:20:48.040\ntalk.\n\n499\n00:20:48.040 --> 00:20:52.500\nAnd I think if we work on those things, then I don't want to have to guess all\n\n500\n00:20:52.500 --> 00:20:53.120\nthe time\n\n501\n00:20:53.120 --> 00:20:54.800\nwhat you're thinking.\n\n502\n00:20:54.800 --> 00:20:57.850\nWe can't solve problems if you're thinking one thing or I'm just thinking\n\n503\n00:20:57.850 --> 00:20:58.440\nanother.\n\n504\n00:20:58.440 --> 00:21:02.150\nI really find it difficult for people who create expectations without telling\n\n505\n00:21:02.150 --> 00:21:02.640\nthe other\n\n506\n00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:03.640\nperson.\n\n507\n00:21:03.640 --> 00:21:08.240\nWell, this is what I was expecting them to do, but they never did it.\n\n508\n00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:09.640\nI'm like, well, did you ever tell them?\n\n509\n00:21:09.640 --> 00:21:11.120\nWell, no, I mean, they should know.\n\n510\n00:21:11.120 --> 00:21:13.040\nI'm like, get that out of here.\n\n511\n00:21:13.040 --> 00:21:15.040\nI don't want to hear that.\n\n512\n00:21:15.040 --> 00:21:20.810\nNow I can hold you accountable if I told you, hey, do this or I'm expecting\n\n513\n00:21:20.810 --> 00:21:22.400\nthis to happen,\n\n514\n00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:24.600\na particular situation.\n\n515\n00:21:24.600 --> 00:21:30.760\nIf you don't do that situation or that what I said, we're going to have a talk.\n\n516\n00:21:30.760 --> 00:21:34.730\nBut if I don't ever tell you what I want, then how can I hold you accountable\n\n517\n00:21:34.730 --> 00:21:35.480\nfor that?\n\n518\n00:21:35.480 --> 00:21:39.650\nSo CCC is really important on a personal level, but it's certainly really\n\n519\n00:21:39.650 --> 00:21:40.280\nimportant\n\n520\n00:21:40.280 --> 00:21:42.320\nin a professional environment as well.\n\n521\n00:21:42.320 --> 00:21:45.640\nCCC, that sounds like a title of a great, great book someday.\n\n522\n00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:46.640\nI love that.\n\n523\n00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:48.920\nThat's a great leadership lesson and it's so simple.\n\n524\n00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:50.480\nIt's fantastic.\n\n525\n00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:52.320\nYou know, you know the game so well.\n\n526\n00:21:52.320 --> 00:21:57.530\nWhen you see opportunities to improve player personnel, how do you go about\n\n527\n00:21:57.530 --> 00:21:58.520\ninfluencing\n\n528\n00:21:58.520 --> 00:22:01.400\nthat it gets done because you're not the general manager.\n\n529\n00:22:01.400 --> 00:22:07.360\nHow do you say, hey, you know, we really need a Gronk or we really need Antonio\n\n530\n00:22:07.360 --> 00:22:08.080\nBrown.\n\n531\n00:22:08.080 --> 00:22:11.080\nDo you just go have CCC with the general manager?\n\n532\n00:22:11.080 --> 00:22:12.080\nAbsolutely.\n\n533\n00:22:12.080 --> 00:22:16.080\nAnd I said, look, I played with Antonio and I really like him.\n\n534\n00:22:16.080 --> 00:22:17.360\nWe have a great connection.\n\n535\n00:22:17.360 --> 00:22:20.800\nHe's a has a high football IQ.\n\n536\n00:22:20.800 --> 00:22:24.240\nHe's extremely talented and I feel like I can count on him.\n\n537\n00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:28.000\nAnd we need to have a personal relationship in Tony and I and we do.\n\n538\n00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:31.800\nAnd the last thing Antonio wants is to let me down and I don't want to let him\n\n539\n00:22:31.800 --> 00:22:32.200\ndown.\n\n540\n00:22:32.200 --> 00:22:35.880\nAnd I think when I'm around other great players, that's great motivation.\n\n541\n00:22:35.880 --> 00:22:39.880\nIf they're bringing their best, I've got to bring my best.\n\n542\n00:22:39.880 --> 00:22:45.080\nAnd Antonio had a relationship with Bruce and Bruce, our head coach, really\n\n543\n00:22:45.080 --> 00:22:46.320\nliked Antonio.\n\n544\n00:22:46.320 --> 00:22:49.200\nHe made the ultimate decision to say, look, I'm not going in there to tell\n\n545\n00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:49.760\nanyone what\n\n546\n00:22:49.760 --> 00:22:50.760\nto do.\n\n547\n00:22:50.760 --> 00:22:52.600\nI'm not, my job is quarterback.\n\n548\n00:22:52.600 --> 00:22:55.240\nI'm not there to tell coaches what to do.\n\n549\n00:22:55.240 --> 00:22:57.000\nI'm not there to tell general managers what to do.\n\n550\n00:22:57.000 --> 00:23:03.160\nI'm there to support their decisions and to say, yes, I think that I can really\n\n551\n00:23:03.160 --> 00:23:03.640\nhelp\n\n552\n00:23:03.640 --> 00:23:04.640\nhere.\n\n553\n00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:07.720\nSo if we choose, if you guys choose to bring them in, I'm all for it and I'm\n\n554\n00:23:07.720 --> 00:23:08.200\ngoing to\n\n555\n00:23:08.200 --> 00:23:10.800\ndo everything I can to help you make it successful.\n\n556\n00:23:10.800 --> 00:23:12.640\nAnd I think that's what my role is.\n\n557\n00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:14.720\nI don't want to be the general manager.\n\n558\n00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:15.960\nI don't want to be the head coach.\n\n559\n00:23:15.960 --> 00:23:17.160\nI want to do my job.\n\n560\n00:23:17.160 --> 00:23:20.320\nBut when it comes to my job, I want to support the things that they're trying\n\n561\n00:23:20.320 --> 00:23:20.920\nto accomplish\n\n562\n00:23:20.920 --> 00:23:21.920\nto.\n\n563\n00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:25.370\nAnd again, that just comes from communication with myself and Bruce, myself and\n\n564\n00:23:25.370 --> 00:23:26.000\nJason Light,\n\n565\n00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:27.440\nwho's our GM.\n\n566\n00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:29.600\nAnd I think that's how you get things done.\n\n567\n00:23:29.600 --> 00:23:30.600\nYeah.\n\n568\n00:23:30.600 --> 00:23:33.770\nYou know, you obviously have this incredible belief in yourself and you got to\n\n569\n00:23:33.770 --> 00:23:34.240\nbelieve\n\n570\n00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:37.900\nif you don't believe nothing's going to happen, you know, as a leader coming\n\n571\n00:23:37.900 --> 00:23:39.400\ninto a new situation,\n\n572\n00:23:39.400 --> 00:23:41.600\nhow do you go about spreading that belief?\n\n573\n00:23:41.600 --> 00:23:44.520\nIs it just just doing the work yourself?\n\n574\n00:23:44.520 --> 00:23:48.570\nYeah, fortunately, I've had a track record of success that guys could look to\n\n575\n00:23:48.570 --> 00:23:48.960\nwithout\n\n576\n00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:51.240\never having a relationship with me.\n\n577\n00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:52.920\nAnd naturally, they believe.\n\n578\n00:23:52.920 --> 00:23:57.290\nYou know, I achieved success early in my career, so that helped as well when I\n\n579\n00:23:57.290 --> 00:23:58.240\nwas a younger\n\n580\n00:23:58.240 --> 00:23:59.240\nplayer.\n\n581\n00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:01.260\nYou know, we as athletes want to be successful and we want to surround\n\n582\n00:24:01.260 --> 00:24:01.920\nourselves with other\n\n583\n00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:02.920\nsuccessful people.\n\n584\n00:24:02.920 --> 00:24:04.720\nWe don't want to play and lose.\n\n585\n00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:06.680\nWe want to play and win.\n\n586\n00:24:06.680 --> 00:24:11.370\nAnd you know, guys have come to play with me because they have a belief that\n\n587\n00:24:11.370 --> 00:24:12.000\nthey can\n\n588\n00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:13.480\nwin when they're with me.\n\n589\n00:24:13.480 --> 00:24:17.440\nAnd again, I want to try to see them and say, okay, well, you know, I can look\n\n590\n00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:17.960\nat a player\n\n591\n00:24:17.960 --> 00:24:18.960\nlike Gronk.\n\n592\n00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:19.960\nI know why we need a Gronk.\n\n593\n00:24:19.960 --> 00:24:21.360\nI know what Gronk can do to a team.\n\n594\n00:24:21.360 --> 00:24:23.880\nI know what he can do for us in terms of our offense.\n\n595\n00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:26.800\nI know what his ability in the past game and the run game is.\n\n596\n00:24:26.800 --> 00:24:28.320\nI know what he can do for the locker room.\n\n597\n00:24:28.320 --> 00:24:30.440\nI know what he can do on the practice field.\n\n598\n00:24:30.440 --> 00:24:33.200\nGronk's very emotionally stable Gronk.\n\n599\n00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:36.200\nIf you're in a foxhole, you want Rob Gronkowski with you.\n\n600\n00:24:36.200 --> 00:24:39.790\nSo if the opportunity presents itself to get a player like Rob Gronkowski on\n\n601\n00:24:39.790 --> 00:24:40.400\nthe team,\n\n602\n00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:44.200\nI am 100% supportive of that because I want all those guys.\n\n603\n00:24:44.200 --> 00:24:48.230\nI want all those guys that when the goal gets tough, you want Rob Gronkowski on\n\n604\n00:24:48.230 --> 00:24:49.520\nyour side.\n\n605\n00:24:49.520 --> 00:24:52.560\nSo Mike Evans, I learned that about Mike.\n\n606\n00:24:52.560 --> 00:24:56.000\nMike was one of the all time great receivers.\n\n607\n00:24:56.000 --> 00:25:01.260\nBut at the same time, Mike hadn't experienced playoff football, you know,\n\n608\n00:25:01.260 --> 00:25:02.440\nbecause the team\n\n609\n00:25:02.440 --> 00:25:07.000\njust couldn't figure out how to get on the right track.\n\n610\n00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:12.070\nAnd watching Mike step up to the challenge of, okay, this is kind of how things\n\n611\n00:25:12.070 --> 00:25:13.160\nhave been,\n\n612\n00:25:13.160 --> 00:25:16.910\nwhich basically a mediocre team, eight and eight, maybe a little less than that\n\n613\n00:25:16.910 --> 00:25:17.360\n, too.\n\n614\n00:25:17.360 --> 00:25:21.880\nOkay, these are expectations for a championship level team.\n\n615\n00:25:21.880 --> 00:25:26.520\nAnd then watching Mike rise to the occasion and step up every step of the way\n\n616\n00:25:26.520 --> 00:25:27.280\nand embrace\n\n617\n00:25:27.280 --> 00:25:31.200\nthat challenge and it really breaks me challenging him.\n\n618\n00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:34.880\nYou know, he loved it and he was like, this is what I want to be.\n\n619\n00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:37.560\nI'm this type of player as well.\n\n620\n00:25:37.560 --> 00:25:39.800\nAnd again, that's just one year.\n\n621\n00:25:39.800 --> 00:25:42.600\nNow I'm looking to see how Mike takes it to the next level.\n\n622\n00:25:42.600 --> 00:25:46.680\nAnd I can already see it this year, how Mike's taken it to the next level.\n\n623\n00:25:46.680 --> 00:25:48.880\nHis whole off season training is better.\n\n624\n00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:50.920\nHis whole training camp is better.\n\n625\n00:25:50.920 --> 00:25:54.280\nHe's in the best position to succeed now than he's ever been.\n\n626\n00:25:54.280 --> 00:25:58.370\nSo now for me is watching him as his friend, I'm excited to see him play\n\n627\n00:25:58.370 --> 00:25:59.560\nbecause I believe\n\n628\n00:25:59.560 --> 00:26:01.800\nhe's going to have his best year he's ever had.\n\n629\n00:26:01.800 --> 00:26:02.800\nThat's great.\n\n630\n00:26:02.800 --> 00:26:06.520\nYou know, and I have to ask you this with Tom, did you feel more pressure in\n\n631\n00:26:06.520 --> 00:26:07.120\nyour first\n\n632\n00:26:07.120 --> 00:26:12.080\ngame at Tampa Bay because it was so highly anticipated that you did it your\n\n633\n00:26:12.080 --> 00:26:12.800\nlast game\n\n634\n00:26:12.800 --> 00:26:15.040\nat New England in the Super Bowl?\n\n635\n00:26:15.040 --> 00:26:16.640\nThat's a good question.\n\n636\n00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:20.520\nAgain, I think I was a little bit naive toward the pressure I feel.\n\n637\n00:26:20.520 --> 00:26:22.840\nIt felt very much like football.\n\n638\n00:26:22.840 --> 00:26:25.000\nWe got our butt kicked pretty bad in New Orleans.\n\n639\n00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:28.600\nMy first game for the box, that was very humbling.\n\n640\n00:26:28.600 --> 00:26:34.080\nI guess I was discouraged from losing, but I wasn't discouraged from our team.\n\n641\n00:26:34.080 --> 00:26:37.960\nI realized that, yep, we still got a long way to go.\n\n642\n00:26:37.960 --> 00:26:41.470\nAs much as I put in the last off season, as much as we put in a training camp,\n\n643\n00:26:41.470 --> 00:26:42.200\nas prepared\n\n644\n00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:45.840\nas I thought I was, we were still a long ways away.\n\n645\n00:26:45.840 --> 00:26:46.840\nAnd it was good.\n\n646\n00:26:46.840 --> 00:26:51.040\nIt was humbling and allowed us to work harder and get closer.\n\n647\n00:26:51.040 --> 00:26:55.520\nThe losses teach you, as I'm sure you know, when things don't go well in\n\n648\n00:26:55.520 --> 00:26:56.760\nbusiness, those\n\n649\n00:26:56.760 --> 00:26:59.960\nteach you a lot more than when things are going well.\n\n650\n00:26:59.960 --> 00:27:10.120\nIf you learn from those errors and mistakes, you can reach a higher level.\n\n651\n00:27:10.120 --> 00:27:14.880\nLike anyone who switches jobs, you had to get used to a new boss.\n\n652\n00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:18.320\nWhat was the biggest challenge going from a Belichick to a coach, Aaron?\n\n653\n00:27:18.320 --> 00:27:23.060\nI think just it's the process of just getting to know, you know, personality\n\n654\n00:27:23.060 --> 00:27:23.920\nand getting\n\n655\n00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:28.400\nto know what he's looking for and what is important to him.\n\n656\n00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:31.280\nAnd you know, you want your head coach to be satisfied with you.\n\n657\n00:27:31.280 --> 00:27:35.200\nI mean, I think one thing as a player, it's a unique relationship.\n\n658\n00:27:35.200 --> 00:27:40.010\nYou know, it's always, you're always trying to somehow gain the approval of the\n\n659\n00:27:40.010 --> 00:27:41.400\nhead coach.\n\n660\n00:27:41.400 --> 00:27:46.160\nYou know, you just, you want the coach to be happy with how you're performing.\n\n661\n00:27:46.160 --> 00:27:50.300\nSo me understanding what his expectations were for me and Bruce has a very\n\n662\n00:27:50.300 --> 00:27:51.040\ndifferent\n\n663\n00:27:51.040 --> 00:27:52.920\npersonality than Bill.\n\n664\n00:27:52.920 --> 00:27:57.040\nBruce was the first offensive coach I've ever had.\n\n665\n00:27:57.040 --> 00:28:00.650\nIn 30 years of playing football, he was the first offensive head coach, which\n\n666\n00:28:00.650 --> 00:28:01.080\nwas very\n\n667\n00:28:01.080 --> 00:28:02.240\ndifferent for me.\n\n668\n00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:05.800\nThings were more suited for the offense in practice.\n\n669\n00:28:05.800 --> 00:28:09.560\nYou know, offense was like, hey, this is what we're focusing on today.\n\n670\n00:28:09.560 --> 00:28:15.430\nYou know, is more offensive strategically thought out as opposed to coach\n\n671\n00:28:15.430 --> 00:28:16.680\nBelichick over the\n\n672\n00:28:16.680 --> 00:28:20.280\nyears, was I would say more defensive minded.\n\n673\n00:28:20.280 --> 00:28:21.880\nAnd even in a way, it was in college for me.\n\n674\n00:28:21.880 --> 00:28:24.800\nSo we just kind of go for it on offense.\n\n675\n00:28:24.800 --> 00:28:27.800\nAnd whatever happens happens, it's a different type of strategy.\n\n676\n00:28:27.800 --> 00:28:34.320\nSometimes we were more protective of the football, of the defense.\n\n677\n00:28:34.320 --> 00:28:37.670\nHere I would say the defense has to be more protective of the offense in a way,\n\n678\n00:28:37.670 --> 00:28:38.720\nwhich is\n\n679\n00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:39.720\nvery unique.\n\n680\n00:28:39.720 --> 00:28:41.280\nAnd again, a good eye opener for me.\n\n681\n00:28:41.280 --> 00:28:44.480\nYou know, I just had learned one way and I like, you know, this way, the\n\n682\n00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:45.040\noffense is\n\n683\n00:28:45.040 --> 00:28:46.040\nvery exciting.\n\n684\n00:28:46.040 --> 00:28:48.520\nWe do, and we try to, we try to go for it.\n\n685\n00:28:48.520 --> 00:28:52.020\nEvery time we get the ball, we're trying to be explosive and attacking every\n\n686\n00:28:52.020 --> 00:28:52.440\nsingle\n\n687\n00:28:52.440 --> 00:28:53.440\ntime.\n\n688\n00:28:53.440 --> 00:28:54.440\nThat's fun to watch.\n\n689\n00:28:54.440 --> 00:28:58.640\nYou know, early in the season, I remember you were criticized by coach Arians.\n\n690\n00:28:58.640 --> 00:29:01.040\nYou know, he actually went on ESPN.\n\n691\n00:29:01.040 --> 00:29:04.630\nHe said that you weren't performing like the Tom Brady that performs in\n\n692\n00:29:04.630 --> 00:29:05.400\npractice.\n\n693\n00:29:05.400 --> 00:29:06.400\nOkay.\n\n694\n00:29:06.400 --> 00:29:11.270\nAnd I had to tell you that irk me, you know, when I saw it on ESPN, how about\n\n695\n00:29:11.270 --> 00:29:11.840\nyou?\n\n696\n00:29:11.840 --> 00:29:15.360\nNo, that was, that's good for me to hear at times too, you know, and I think\n\n697\n00:29:15.360 --> 00:29:16.200\nthat encourages\n\n698\n00:29:16.200 --> 00:29:18.160\nconversation between the two of us.\n\n699\n00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:23.150\nAnd again, Bruce, one thing about Bruce that I absolutely love is he says what\n\n700\n00:29:23.150 --> 00:29:23.840\nhe feels.\n\n701\n00:29:23.840 --> 00:29:25.240\nHe says what he thinks.\n\n702\n00:29:25.240 --> 00:29:28.360\nAnd it's just how he does it.\n\n703\n00:29:28.360 --> 00:29:30.640\nAnd it's his style and it's nothing personal.\n\n704\n00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:33.840\nYou think it was a calculated move to whip his horse?\n\n705\n00:29:33.840 --> 00:29:34.840\nAbsolutely.\n\n706\n00:29:34.840 --> 00:29:37.280\nI think he does a good job of that and he knows what he's doing.\n\n707\n00:29:37.280 --> 00:29:38.680\nHe's got a great pulse for that.\n\n708\n00:29:38.680 --> 00:29:39.680\nHe knows what he's doing.\n\n709\n00:29:39.680 --> 00:29:43.110\nDid that take pressure off you because he, he treated you like everybody else\n\n710\n00:29:43.110 --> 00:29:43.480\non the\n\n711\n00:29:43.480 --> 00:29:45.160\nteam on national television?\n\n712\n00:29:45.160 --> 00:29:46.160\nAbsolutely.\n\n713\n00:29:46.160 --> 00:29:48.610\nYeah, I don't think it takes pressure off you, but it's good for you because\n\n714\n00:29:48.610 --> 00:29:49.320\nthe other\n\n715\n00:29:49.320 --> 00:29:52.960\nplayers want to know I'm accountable as well.\n\n716\n00:29:52.960 --> 00:29:58.110\nHim calling me out in that way allowed me to have conversations with him and\n\n717\n00:29:58.110 --> 00:29:58.960\nmyself.\n\n718\n00:29:58.960 --> 00:29:59.960\nYou're right.\n\n719\n00:29:59.960 --> 00:30:00.960\nI need to perform better.\n\n720\n00:30:00.960 --> 00:30:02.440\nI need to play better.\n\n721\n00:30:02.440 --> 00:30:06.080\nAnd if I'm going to play better, you know, this, how I'm going to prepare more.\n\n722\n00:30:06.080 --> 00:30:09.440\nAnd, you know, it's, it's a whole trickle down effect.\n\n723\n00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:15.330\nLater on that year, you know, coach areas said you were like the coach of the\n\n724\n00:30:15.330 --> 00:30:15.480\nteam and\n\n725\n00:30:15.480 --> 00:30:18.320\nyou didn't get the same opportunity to do that at New England.\n\n726\n00:30:18.320 --> 00:30:21.520\nNow, how did it make you feel when you've evolved like that where you said you\n\n727\n00:30:21.520 --> 00:30:21.920\n're like\n\n728\n00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:22.920\na coach of the team?\n\n729\n00:30:22.920 --> 00:30:25.280\nWell, I'm older than most coaches at this point.\n\n730\n00:30:25.280 --> 00:30:28.540\nIf you look at me on the road, I'd say there's probably 10 or 12 coaches that\n\n731\n00:30:28.540 --> 00:30:29.120\nare younger\n\n732\n00:30:29.120 --> 00:30:30.520\nthan me.\n\n733\n00:30:30.520 --> 00:30:32.840\nAnd I have a great understanding of the game.\n\n734\n00:30:32.840 --> 00:30:35.200\nSo I am the coach on the field.\n\n735\n00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:36.200\nThat's just the way it is.\n\n736\n00:30:36.200 --> 00:30:37.200\nThat's how quarterbacks are.\n\n737\n00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:41.680\nAnd when you have somewhat of my experience, you know, you want me to be the\n\n738\n00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:42.360\ncoach on the\n\n739\n00:30:42.360 --> 00:30:43.360\nfield.\n\n740\n00:30:43.360 --> 00:30:47.270\nYou'd rather turn the, the reins over to an experienced player than, you know,\n\n741\n00:30:47.270 --> 00:30:47.800\na rookie\n\n742\n00:30:47.800 --> 00:30:48.800\nquarterback.\n\n743\n00:30:48.800 --> 00:30:51.180\nI mean, unfortunately they're, they may be the coach on the field, but they don\n\n744\n00:30:51.180 --> 00:30:51.400\n't have\n\n745\n00:30:51.400 --> 00:30:52.400\nmuch experience.\n\n746\n00:30:52.400 --> 00:30:57.700\nSo Bruce and I have a great relationship where, you know, it's just, there's no\n\n747\n00:30:57.700 --> 00:30:58.560\nbeating around\n\n748\n00:30:58.560 --> 00:30:59.560\nthe bush.\n\n749\n00:30:59.560 --> 00:31:01.360\nYou know, BA says, Tom, I need you to do this.\n\n750\n00:31:01.360 --> 00:31:02.360\nNo problem coach.\n\n751\n00:31:02.360 --> 00:31:03.360\nI'll do it.\n\n752\n00:31:03.360 --> 00:31:04.720\nAnd I'll say, yeah, I need this.\n\n753\n00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:06.160\nThis is what I would like us to do.\n\n754\n00:31:06.160 --> 00:31:07.160\nNo problem, Tom.\n\n755\n00:31:07.160 --> 00:31:08.160\nThat's what we'll do.\n\n756\n00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:09.760\nAnd that was really exciting for me.\n\n757\n00:31:09.760 --> 00:31:13.520\nYou know, I'd say in New England, it's much more coaching focused.\n\n758\n00:31:13.520 --> 00:31:17.220\nYou know, that's just the reality of that organization and it has been, you\n\n759\n00:31:17.220 --> 00:31:17.840\nknow, and\n\n760\n00:31:17.840 --> 00:31:22.810\nit's just over the years, you know, I was part of that whole transgression and\n\n761\n00:31:22.810 --> 00:31:23.080\nit's\n\n762\n00:31:23.080 --> 00:31:24.240\nreally worked well there.\n\n763\n00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:26.920\nThe history and the success speaks for itself.\n\n764\n00:31:26.920 --> 00:31:30.520\nAnd the continuity there really allowed some great things to happen.\n\n765\n00:31:30.520 --> 00:31:33.680\nAnd I think what you'd love to do is have the same continuity here.\n\n766\n00:31:33.680 --> 00:31:36.040\nAnd we have that of players of coaches.\n\n767\n00:31:36.040 --> 00:31:39.750\nAnd again, I think it just speaks to, I really want to see us what happens this\n\n768\n00:31:39.750 --> 00:31:40.320\nyear.\n\n769\n00:31:40.320 --> 00:31:42.000\nI really want to see how we perform.\n\n770\n00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:44.400\nAnd I'm just excited to get started.\n\n771\n00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:46.000\nWe get started here pretty shortly.\n\n772\n00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:49.960\nAnd I want to see how the work pays off this year.\n\n773\n00:31:49.960 --> 00:31:52.520\nYou know, great leaders, coach themselves, Tom.\n\n774\n00:31:52.520 --> 00:31:57.360\nWhat's the conversation you have with yourself when things don't go your way?\n\n775\n00:31:57.360 --> 00:31:59.200\nI'm pretty tough on myself.\n\n776\n00:31:59.200 --> 00:32:00.800\nI don't make excuses.\n\n777\n00:32:00.800 --> 00:32:02.760\nI don't blame others.\n\n778\n00:32:02.760 --> 00:32:06.720\nBut I want to find a solution criticizing without a solution is just\n\n779\n00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:08.440\nessentially complaining.\n\n780\n00:32:08.440 --> 00:32:11.400\nHe may as well be a Monday morning quarterback at that point.\n\n781\n00:32:11.400 --> 00:32:14.680\nThe critique for me is all about the solution.\n\n782\n00:32:14.680 --> 00:32:18.240\nIf something doesn't work, it's why didn't it work?\n\n783\n00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:20.600\nYou know, and how do we get it to work?\n\n784\n00:32:20.600 --> 00:32:24.840\nNot some BS reason why it wasn't successful.\n\n785\n00:32:24.840 --> 00:32:25.920\nLet's get to the root of the problem.\n\n786\n00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:27.120\nLet's solve it.\n\n787\n00:32:27.120 --> 00:32:29.080\nAnd I think that's the best way to go about it.\n\n788\n00:32:29.080 --> 00:32:30.080\nWhen was it, Tom?\n\n789\n00:32:30.080 --> 00:32:34.960\nWhen you did you have a pivotal moment when you went into this season last year\n\n790\n00:32:34.960 --> 00:32:35.040\nwhere\n\n791\n00:32:35.040 --> 00:32:38.080\nyou actually believe the team could go all the way?\n\n792\n00:32:38.080 --> 00:32:39.080\nI wasn't sure.\n\n793\n00:32:39.080 --> 00:32:43.680\nI didn't think about that destination point.\n\n794\n00:32:43.680 --> 00:32:49.060\nI was more focused on the process of improving on a daily basis rather than the\n\n795\n00:32:49.060 --> 00:32:50.520\nfinal destination.\n\n796\n00:32:50.520 --> 00:32:53.640\nI mean, it was a series of steps.\n\n797\n00:32:53.640 --> 00:32:55.400\nIt wasn't any one thing.\n\n798\n00:32:55.400 --> 00:32:58.670\nThere was a thousand things that we needed to do better from week one all the\n\n799\n00:32:58.670 --> 00:32:59.280\nway through\n\n800\n00:32:59.280 --> 00:33:00.280\nthe end of the season.\n\n801\n00:33:00.280 --> 00:33:04.200\nAnd by the end of the season, I'd say we're at a pretty great point.\n\n802\n00:33:04.200 --> 00:33:08.760\nAnd I thought we were still improving as a football team as the season ended.\n\n803\n00:33:08.760 --> 00:33:12.840\nSo I didn't really know we were going to win the Super Bowl until that clock.\n\n804\n00:33:12.840 --> 00:33:14.760\nYou're at the end.\n\n805\n00:33:14.760 --> 00:33:17.160\nThat was great to see.\n\n806\n00:33:17.160 --> 00:33:19.160\nI'll tell you that.\n\n807\n00:33:19.160 --> 00:33:24.690\nI recently learned that early on in the season, your father had a very, very,\n\n808\n00:33:24.690 --> 00:33:25.360\nvery serious\n\n809\n00:33:25.360 --> 00:33:28.240\nbout with COVID-19.\n\n810\n00:33:28.240 --> 00:33:33.370\nHow did you handle the personal adversity of that and play the football you\n\n811\n00:33:33.370 --> 00:33:34.160\nplayed?\n\n812\n00:33:34.160 --> 00:33:40.570\nWell, I think part of it was just I have three great sisters who really were\n\n813\n00:33:40.570 --> 00:33:41.200\nthere for my\n\n814\n00:33:41.200 --> 00:33:46.360\nparents physically and emotionally.\n\n815\n00:33:46.360 --> 00:33:50.520\nTwo of them were up there with my mom, with my dad.\n\n816\n00:33:50.520 --> 00:33:56.160\nAnd it's again dealing with work, but also it's life for all of us.\n\n817\n00:33:56.160 --> 00:33:58.000\nAt this point, it's all interwoven.\n\n818\n00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:03.160\nMy relationships are my work, my personal life, my family.\n\n819\n00:34:03.160 --> 00:34:05.360\nNone of it's different.\n\n820\n00:34:05.360 --> 00:34:06.840\nIt's all the same.\n\n821\n00:34:06.840 --> 00:34:09.000\nMy sisters were there to hold down the floor.\n\n822\n00:34:09.000 --> 00:34:12.600\nAnd I would call and every day we'd check in multiple times.\n\n823\n00:34:12.600 --> 00:34:17.000\nAnd it was a struggle for my dad, but he made it through.\n\n824\n00:34:17.000 --> 00:34:18.440\nHe's a fighter.\n\n825\n00:34:18.440 --> 00:34:23.560\nAnd it just loved being able to get him to games last year.\n\n826\n00:34:23.560 --> 00:34:29.000\nHe flew back for a Sunday night game, flew back obviously for the Super Bowl.\n\n827\n00:34:29.000 --> 00:34:32.720\nSo just adversity brings us all closer together.\n\n828\n00:34:32.720 --> 00:34:37.280\nI brought my parents closer, brought my family closer.\n\n829\n00:34:37.280 --> 00:34:42.040\nAnd there's no good without bad, and there's no bad without good.\n\n830\n00:34:42.040 --> 00:34:45.560\nIt's just one of those things that we've all had to deal with.\n\n831\n00:34:45.560 --> 00:34:48.640\nIt was great to see your whole family enjoy that big moment.\n\n832\n00:34:48.640 --> 00:34:49.640\nI'll tell you what.\n\n833\n00:34:49.640 --> 00:34:53.960\nAnd not many people knew that during the season you were playing on a bad knee.\n\n834\n00:34:53.960 --> 00:34:57.740\nAnd what do you tell yourself when you've got an injury like that that motiv\n\n835\n00:34:57.740 --> 00:34:58.000\nates you\n\n836\n00:34:58.000 --> 00:34:59.000\nto persevere?\n\n837\n00:34:59.000 --> 00:35:02.040\nAnd let's face it, two weeks after the Super Bowl, I think you had a knee\n\n838\n00:35:02.040 --> 00:35:02.760\noperation.\n\n839\n00:35:02.760 --> 00:35:06.040\nI saw you just right after you had that operation.\n\n840\n00:35:06.040 --> 00:35:07.040\nThat surprised me.\n\n841\n00:35:07.040 --> 00:35:08.040\nI got to tell you.\n\n842\n00:35:08.040 --> 00:35:10.120\nI didn't know you had that kind of pain.\n\n843\n00:35:10.120 --> 00:35:12.600\nYeah, I had been dealing with them.\n\n844\n00:35:12.600 --> 00:35:16.440\nI tore my ACL to MCL 13 years ago.\n\n845\n00:35:16.440 --> 00:35:23.540\nI tore my MCL a few times over the course of the seasons that I just kind of\n\n846\n00:35:23.540 --> 00:35:25.400\ndealt with.\n\n847\n00:35:25.400 --> 00:35:27.830\nAnd it got looser and looser and looser to the point where there was no\n\n848\n00:35:27.830 --> 00:35:28.440\nstability in\n\n849\n00:35:28.440 --> 00:35:29.440\nmy knee.\n\n850\n00:35:29.440 --> 00:35:36.650\nAnd I knew it at the beginning of last off season that my MCL wasn't doing its\n\n851\n00:35:36.650 --> 00:35:37.440\njob.\n\n852\n00:35:37.440 --> 00:35:40.750\nAnd I basically just taped my knee every day to create stability for like seven\n\n853\n00:35:40.750 --> 00:35:41.200\nor eight\n\n854\n00:35:41.200 --> 00:35:42.960\nmonths.\n\n855\n00:35:42.960 --> 00:35:47.770\nAnd I knew that if I could tape it during the game and where a brace would be\n\n856\n00:35:47.770 --> 00:35:49.280\nfine and\n\n857\n00:35:49.280 --> 00:35:51.760\nhopefully it wouldn't get me worse, it was already bad.\n\n858\n00:35:51.760 --> 00:35:54.520\nSo I could still play.\n\n859\n00:35:54.520 --> 00:35:57.520\nI just couldn't play necessarily the way that I wanted to.\n\n860\n00:35:57.520 --> 00:36:01.530\nAnd I know that sounds kind of bad to say because we end up winning the Super\n\n861\n00:36:01.530 --> 00:36:02.320\nBowl.\n\n862\n00:36:02.320 --> 00:36:05.160\nAnd that's not what I mean when I say that.\n\n863\n00:36:05.160 --> 00:36:08.320\nAnd I knew that I wasn't physically the way that I would hope to.\n\n864\n00:36:08.320 --> 00:36:13.000\nI just had to spend a lot of time and energy on it with Alex, who I worked with\n\n865\n00:36:13.000 --> 00:36:13.240\n.\n\n866\n00:36:13.240 --> 00:36:14.760\nAnd he did an amazing job.\n\n867\n00:36:14.760 --> 00:36:17.360\nI mean, he's just literally a miracle worker.\n\n868\n00:36:17.360 --> 00:36:21.200\nIt's hard to describe what he's capable of.\n\n869\n00:36:21.200 --> 00:36:25.330\nI've heard for someone in my 22nd year, there's no way I could achieve the\n\n870\n00:36:25.330 --> 00:36:26.280\nsuccess I could\n\n871\n00:36:26.280 --> 00:36:32.190\nwithout having my business partner, best friend, Alex, my body coach there\n\n872\n00:36:32.190 --> 00:36:33.040\nevery step\n\n873\n00:36:33.040 --> 00:36:34.640\nof the way, treating my knee.\n\n874\n00:36:34.640 --> 00:36:40.880\nAnd, you know, we worked through literally a torn MCL to have surgery.\n\n875\n00:36:40.880 --> 00:36:44.360\nAnd as soon as the season ended, I knew we would joke, you know, okay, last day\n\n876\n00:36:44.360 --> 00:36:44.440\nwe're\n\n877\n00:36:44.440 --> 00:36:45.440\ntaping this.\n\n878\n00:36:45.440 --> 00:36:48.840\nWell, you do everything you can to possibly avoid surgery.\n\n879\n00:36:48.840 --> 00:36:54.100\nI mean, I know that from my time on TB 12 and the work that I did there, you\n\n880\n00:36:54.100 --> 00:36:54.560\nknow, and\n\n881\n00:36:54.560 --> 00:36:58.960\nyou have any injury, you work your way, you get to the Super Bowl.\n\n882\n00:36:58.960 --> 00:37:01.920\nNow you're on this big stage where you've been there.\n\n883\n00:37:01.920 --> 00:37:05.080\nYou've won it six times before you're going for your seventh victory.\n\n884\n00:37:05.080 --> 00:37:10.030\nHow do you go about transferring the knowledge you have on how to handle that\n\n885\n00:37:10.030 --> 00:37:10.720\nbig stage,\n\n886\n00:37:10.720 --> 00:37:14.680\na stage that most of the people on the team had never really been on?\n\n887\n00:37:14.680 --> 00:37:17.880\nHow did you transfer your learning to them or did you?\n\n888\n00:37:17.880 --> 00:37:21.000\nI mean, it's those games, you're going to remember those games for the rest of\n\n889\n00:37:21.000 --> 00:37:21.360\nyour\n\n890\n00:37:21.360 --> 00:37:22.360\nlife.\n\n891\n00:37:22.360 --> 00:37:26.920\nAnd, you know, all I could talk about was my experience and not, you know, what\n\n892\n00:37:26.920 --> 00:37:27.640\nthe media\n\n893\n00:37:27.640 --> 00:37:30.800\nwould say or what the families would say, guys, this is what I went through.\n\n894\n00:37:30.800 --> 00:37:32.520\nThis is how I would handle this.\n\n895\n00:37:32.520 --> 00:37:37.060\nYou know, this is, it's once the games kicked off its football, you know, but\n\n896\n00:37:37.060 --> 00:37:37.440\nbefore the\n\n897\n00:37:37.440 --> 00:37:38.720\ngame, there's a lot more hype.\n\n898\n00:37:38.720 --> 00:37:41.280\nBut don't get caught up in the hype.\n\n899\n00:37:41.280 --> 00:37:43.200\nYou know, just, but we have a routine.\n\n900\n00:37:43.200 --> 00:37:44.560\nIt's worked.\n\n901\n00:37:44.560 --> 00:37:46.800\nThis isn't the time to try something new.\n\n902\n00:37:46.800 --> 00:37:51.080\nLike, let's just, you know, let's just go do what we're capable of doing.\n\n903\n00:37:51.080 --> 00:37:53.520\nAnd you know, the guys responded, you know, and a lot of them know how to\n\n904\n00:37:53.520 --> 00:37:54.040\nhandle it.\n\n905\n00:37:54.040 --> 00:37:57.160\nA lot of these guys are big time college players.\n\n906\n00:37:57.160 --> 00:38:01.840\nYou know, they've been in big games before, not quite the Super Bowl big, but,\n\n907\n00:38:01.840 --> 00:38:02.320\nyou know,\n\n908\n00:38:02.320 --> 00:38:05.600\nthere's a lot of big games where a lot of people are watching.\n\n909\n00:38:05.600 --> 00:38:09.160\nAnd I'm just proud of the way that everybody rose to the challenge.\n\n910\n00:38:09.160 --> 00:38:15.350\nLeonard Fornett, Chris Godwin, Scotty Miller, Antonio, Gronk, Cambra, the line,\n\n911\n00:38:15.350 --> 00:38:16.440\nthe defensive\n\n912\n00:38:16.440 --> 00:38:20.710\nplayers, Levante David, one of the all time great line backers in an NFL\n\n913\n00:38:20.710 --> 00:38:21.360\nhistory in\n\n914\n00:38:21.360 --> 00:38:24.760\nDominic and Sue and Jason Pierre Paul and Devin White.\n\n915\n00:38:24.760 --> 00:38:26.600\nI mean, we got a group of guys that are.\n\n916\n00:38:26.600 --> 00:38:28.200\nYou love these guys, don't you?\n\n917\n00:38:28.200 --> 00:38:30.520\nYeah, they're just the way you talk about them.\n\n918\n00:38:30.520 --> 00:38:33.640\nIt's like, they have to feel that love.\n\n919\n00:38:33.640 --> 00:38:34.640\nThey're studs, man.\n\n920\n00:38:34.640 --> 00:38:36.080\nThey just know how to get it done.\n\n921\n00:38:36.080 --> 00:38:38.080\nAnd they're just, they're warriors.\n\n922\n00:38:38.080 --> 00:38:39.840\nAnd I just, I see what they go through every day.\n\n923\n00:38:39.840 --> 00:38:42.440\nI see the commitment it takes for them.\n\n924\n00:38:42.440 --> 00:38:45.760\nAnd they're just amazing guys, amazing players.\n\n925\n00:38:45.760 --> 00:38:48.760\nAnd now it's about what we can accomplish this year.\n\n926\n00:38:48.760 --> 00:38:50.440\nWhat's happened is great.\n\n927\n00:38:50.440 --> 00:38:52.000\nNobody could take it away from us.\n\n928\n00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:55.080\nNo one's taking that ring away or that banner.\n\n929\n00:38:55.080 --> 00:38:57.480\nBut we got a different goal in mission this year.\n\n930\n00:38:57.480 --> 00:38:58.480\nAnd it's going to be--\n\n931\n00:38:58.480 --> 00:39:01.160\nI can tell even in this conversation, you're getting tired of me asking\n\n932\n00:39:01.160 --> 00:39:01.920\nquestions about\n\n933\n00:39:01.920 --> 00:39:02.920\nlast year.\n\n934\n00:39:02.920 --> 00:39:04.600\nYou're ready to get on to the year.\n\n935\n00:39:04.600 --> 00:39:05.920\nThat's yesterday's newspaper here.\n\n936\n00:39:05.920 --> 00:39:09.640\nBut I'm going to ask you one more and then we'll move on to maybe just a little\n\n937\n00:39:09.640 --> 00:39:10.080\n, some\n\n938\n00:39:10.080 --> 00:39:11.080\nother stuff here.\n\n939\n00:39:11.080 --> 00:39:12.880\nBut as leaders, we always have competition.\n\n940\n00:39:12.880 --> 00:39:14.680\nAnd you mentioned studs, okay?\n\n941\n00:39:14.680 --> 00:39:16.080\nThe studs on your tape.\n\n942\n00:39:16.080 --> 00:39:18.200\nWell, there's always a young gun.\n\n943\n00:39:18.200 --> 00:39:22.200\nYou know, and everyone talked about the Brady Mahomes matchup.\n\n944\n00:39:22.200 --> 00:39:28.120\nYou know, how did you think going-- how did you think about going head to head\n\n945\n00:39:28.120 --> 00:39:28.320\nwith\n\n946\n00:39:28.320 --> 00:39:29.320\nhim?\n\n947\n00:39:29.320 --> 00:39:33.640\nDid that affect your mindset in any way?\n\n948\n00:39:33.640 --> 00:39:34.760\nHe's obviously a stud.\n\n949\n00:39:34.760 --> 00:39:37.160\nAnd I really love his style of play.\n\n950\n00:39:37.160 --> 00:39:41.940\nHe is as talented as a quarterback as there is in the NFL right now in terms of\n\n951\n00:39:41.940 --> 00:39:42.840\nhis ability\n\n952\n00:39:42.840 --> 00:39:46.200\nto make plays, get the ball down the field.\n\n953\n00:39:46.200 --> 00:39:47.880\nAnd he does it with his feet.\n\n954\n00:39:47.880 --> 00:39:50.320\nHe's a really good leader.\n\n955\n00:39:50.320 --> 00:39:51.320\nGreat creativity.\n\n956\n00:39:51.320 --> 00:39:54.800\nThat's what people appreciate a lot from him, his creativity.\n\n957\n00:39:54.800 --> 00:39:56.800\nBut just so talented.\n\n958\n00:39:56.800 --> 00:39:58.440\nAnd I had played him before.\n\n959\n00:39:58.440 --> 00:40:04.200\nI played teams at the Chiefs when I was at the Patriots.\n\n960\n00:40:04.200 --> 00:40:09.320\nYou're not going to beat him scoring seven points.\n\n961\n00:40:09.320 --> 00:40:11.960\nYou got to go in there and you got to have no fear.\n\n962\n00:40:11.960 --> 00:40:14.040\nAnd when you play great players, that's what it's going to be.\n\n963\n00:40:14.040 --> 00:40:17.240\nAnd a lot like, look, I played Peyton Manning for a long time.\n\n964\n00:40:17.240 --> 00:40:20.640\nThere was nobody who could dominate the game like Peyton Manning.\n\n965\n00:40:20.640 --> 00:40:22.520\nAnd he was phenomenal.\n\n966\n00:40:22.520 --> 00:40:25.560\nAnd Aaron Rodgers is another one.\n\n967\n00:40:25.560 --> 00:40:29.200\nSo I played the best for a long time.\n\n968\n00:40:29.200 --> 00:40:32.930\nAnd I love going against those guys because it brings out the best in you as\n\n969\n00:40:32.930 --> 00:40:33.240\nwell.\n\n970\n00:40:33.240 --> 00:40:38.000\nSee, you get this decisive win in the Super Bowl.\n\n971\n00:40:38.000 --> 00:40:42.440\nYou prove to the world you can do it in a new venue.\n\n972\n00:40:42.440 --> 00:40:46.260\nYou do it without Bill Belichick and everybody has their own rumors and\n\n973\n00:40:46.260 --> 00:40:47.480\nwondering about how\n\n974\n00:40:47.480 --> 00:40:51.390\nwill you get along with him and how much do you enjoy, you know, showing the\n\n975\n00:40:51.390 --> 00:40:51.720\nworld that\n\n976\n00:40:51.720 --> 00:40:54.080\nyou didn't need him, et cetera, et cetera.\n\n977\n00:40:54.080 --> 00:40:56.000\nHow do you really feel about that subject?\n\n978\n00:40:56.000 --> 00:40:58.080\nI mean, you know, let's get rid of all the BS.\n\n979\n00:40:58.080 --> 00:41:02.360\nHow do you really feel?\n\n980\n00:41:02.360 --> 00:41:04.840\nI mean, I just, I went on a different journey.\n\n981\n00:41:04.840 --> 00:41:05.840\nThat's how I looked at it.\n\n982\n00:41:05.840 --> 00:41:10.800\nYou know, nothing I've done takes away from what we accomplished.\n\n983\n00:41:10.800 --> 00:41:15.880\nIt was a magical 20 years and I left it on the best terms.\n\n984\n00:41:15.880 --> 00:41:18.120\nAnd I think it was just a new journey for me.\n\n985\n00:41:18.120 --> 00:41:22.080\nAnd the journey I'm on, I don't really care what happens with anyone else.\n\n986\n00:41:22.080 --> 00:41:24.800\nI don't care what happens with any other team.\n\n987\n00:41:24.800 --> 00:41:29.800\nI don't have care what happens with any other coach, any other organization.\n\n988\n00:41:29.800 --> 00:41:33.200\nI care what's going on with what I'm trying to accomplish.\n\n989\n00:41:33.200 --> 00:41:37.600\nSo again, it was not about the Patriots.\n\n990\n00:41:37.600 --> 00:41:41.490\nI was no concern, you know, how they were doing to me, not in a bad way, just\n\n991\n00:41:41.490 --> 00:41:41.920\nin a way\n\n992\n00:41:41.920 --> 00:41:48.070\nthat whether they were successful or not, I wanted to be successful because\n\n993\n00:41:48.070 --> 00:41:48.200\nthis is\n\n994\n00:41:48.200 --> 00:41:50.440\nwhere I was putting my time and energy.\n\n995\n00:41:50.440 --> 00:41:54.040\nAnd I was going to be the best I could be for my team.\n\n996\n00:41:54.040 --> 00:41:55.520\nAnd that's where my energy was focused.\n\n997\n00:41:55.520 --> 00:41:59.400\nWell, there we have it right there straight from the horse's mouth.\n\n998\n00:41:59.400 --> 00:42:00.680\nThat is the answer.\n\n999\n00:42:00.680 --> 00:42:01.680\nOkay.\n\n1000\n00:42:01.680 --> 00:42:03.080\nSo don't ask him that anymore.\n\n1001\n00:42:03.080 --> 00:42:04.080\nI know.\n\n1002\n00:42:04.080 --> 00:42:07.040\nAnd just, you know, look, I was so grateful for my experience here.\n\n1003\n00:42:07.040 --> 00:42:14.330\nI think just one thing that's really important for me to say is I had 20 years\n\n1004\n00:42:14.330 --> 00:42:15.680\nof great memories\n\n1005\n00:42:15.680 --> 00:42:17.360\nand relationships.\n\n1006\n00:42:17.360 --> 00:42:22.550\nAnd I certainly couldn't be the player I am without all of the people that\n\n1007\n00:42:22.550 --> 00:42:23.440\nimpacted my\n\n1008\n00:42:23.440 --> 00:42:25.560\nlife from that organization.\n\n1009\n00:42:25.560 --> 00:42:30.040\nI was just very grateful to be in this magical place with great people, great\n\n1010\n00:42:30.040 --> 00:42:31.360\ncoaches, obviously\n\n1011\n00:42:31.360 --> 00:42:37.280\ncoach Belichick, Mr. Kraft was a great mentor for me and along with amazing\n\n1012\n00:42:37.280 --> 00:42:38.360\nplayers that\n\n1013\n00:42:38.360 --> 00:42:41.040\nyou know, accomplished so many things together.\n\n1014\n00:42:41.040 --> 00:42:43.040\nSo I learned a lot from them.\n\n1015\n00:42:43.040 --> 00:42:46.820\nThey learned a lot from me and I was able to go somewhere else and impart\n\n1016\n00:42:46.820 --> 00:42:47.680\ndifferent wisdom\n\n1017\n00:42:47.680 --> 00:42:52.270\nand impart different skill sets and just so happy we accomplished what we did\n\n1018\n00:42:52.270 --> 00:42:53.120\nlast year,\n\n1019\n00:42:53.120 --> 00:42:56.160\nbut that was totally separate from what I had done previously.\n\n1020\n00:42:56.160 --> 00:43:01.800\nA great example of a win-win and another win, you know, which is fantastic.\n\n1021\n00:43:01.800 --> 00:43:04.960\nAnd Tom, I remember when we first met, I told you I couldn't stand you.\n\n1022\n00:43:04.960 --> 00:43:06.760\nYou know, I mean, I couldn't stand to Patriots.\n\n1023\n00:43:06.760 --> 00:43:08.400\nYou're also standing for God's sakes.\n\n1024\n00:43:08.400 --> 00:43:11.730\nYou know, I really, you know, I just, you know, because the Patriots were kind\n\n1025\n00:43:11.730 --> 00:43:12.080\nof like\n\n1026\n00:43:12.080 --> 00:43:13.080\nthe Yankees.\n\n1027\n00:43:13.080 --> 00:43:16.780\nMost people, and I'm from Louisville, Kentucky, most people outside of New\n\n1028\n00:43:16.780 --> 00:43:18.600\nEngland, you know,\n\n1029\n00:43:18.600 --> 00:43:20.400\nbasically hated them.\n\n1030\n00:43:20.400 --> 00:43:22.520\nAnd that had to rub off on you.\n\n1031\n00:43:22.520 --> 00:43:24.440\nAnd I remember sending a note after the Super Bowl.\n\n1032\n00:43:24.440 --> 00:43:28.890\nOne of the things I loved last year is I felt like people really got to see the\n\n1033\n00:43:28.890 --> 00:43:30.040\ngreat guy,\n\n1034\n00:43:30.040 --> 00:43:33.960\nall of your friends know that you are, because you were in a new setting.\n\n1035\n00:43:33.960 --> 00:43:37.900\nYou got out of that setting where you were no longer the villain, the villain\n\n1036\n00:43:37.900 --> 00:43:39.080\nous patriot.\n\n1037\n00:43:39.080 --> 00:43:42.400\nDo you think that broadened your appeal?\n\n1038\n00:43:42.400 --> 00:43:47.150\nI definitely sensed there's a little litmus test, you know, for when I travel\n\n1039\n00:43:47.150 --> 00:43:47.760\naround and\n\n1040\n00:43:47.760 --> 00:43:48.760\nso forth.\n\n1041\n00:43:48.760 --> 00:43:49.920\nAnd I'm in all parts of the country.\n\n1042\n00:43:49.920 --> 00:43:52.960\nAnd, you know, just how people react.\n\n1043\n00:43:52.960 --> 00:43:56.080\nI would say it was, it was definitely different.\n\n1044\n00:43:56.080 --> 00:44:01.410\nI mean, when I look at it from a real perspective, you know, if Tom Brady is\n\n1045\n00:44:01.410 --> 00:44:02.640\nalways part of this\n\n1046\n00:44:02.640 --> 00:44:06.320\nteam, the Patriots, and every time the Patriots win, I mean, it's aggravating.\n\n1047\n00:44:06.320 --> 00:44:09.160\nI believe, and you know, it's just the way it is.\n\n1048\n00:44:09.160 --> 00:44:13.080\nSo for me to go somewhere else was maybe less aggravating.\n\n1049\n00:44:13.080 --> 00:44:15.040\nThat's a good point.\n\n1050\n00:44:15.040 --> 00:44:17.680\nYou know, Tom, I like everybody else.\n\n1051\n00:44:17.680 --> 00:44:19.760\nYou had a lot of followers on Instagram.\n\n1052\n00:44:19.760 --> 00:44:23.080\nAnd you seem to be having a lot of fun with yourself these days, you know,\n\n1053\n00:44:23.080 --> 00:44:23.640\nmaking fun\n\n1054\n00:44:23.640 --> 00:44:30.120\nof your speed by in the Madden game, you know, running a slow 40 yard dash.\n\n1055\n00:44:30.120 --> 00:44:32.160\nIf you haven't seen this, everybody go on Instagram.\n\n1056\n00:44:32.160 --> 00:44:35.920\nIt's really fun to watch all this stuff, you know, watching you throw the Super\n\n1057\n00:44:35.920 --> 00:44:36.720\nBowl trophy\n\n1058\n00:44:36.720 --> 00:44:40.870\nfrom one boat to another boat, you know, you know, so you're, you're, it looks\n\n1059\n00:44:40.870 --> 00:44:41.360\nlike you're\n\n1060\n00:44:41.360 --> 00:44:44.710\ntaking yourself less seriously, or you're having fun with yourself or whatever,\n\n1061\n00:44:44.710 --> 00:44:45.240\nnot that you\n\n1062\n00:44:45.240 --> 00:44:46.680\never took yourself too seriously.\n\n1063\n00:44:46.680 --> 00:44:51.030\nBut is there any strategy behind this or is it just you just having fun with\n\n1064\n00:44:51.030 --> 00:44:51.760\nthe social\n\n1065\n00:44:51.760 --> 00:44:52.760\nmedia?\n\n1066\n00:44:52.760 --> 00:44:56.560\nYeah, I think it's probably more natural for me to be more open than, you know,\n\n1067\n00:44:56.560 --> 00:44:58.480\nI think,\n\n1068\n00:44:58.480 --> 00:45:03.390\nyou know, I got into a rhythm of life that was probably a little more robotic,\n\n1069\n00:45:03.390 --> 00:45:04.120\nyou know,\n\n1070\n00:45:04.120 --> 00:45:08.810\nand I think more my voice is different because, you know, my situation is\n\n1071\n00:45:08.810 --> 00:45:09.800\ndifferent.\n\n1072\n00:45:09.800 --> 00:45:13.900\nAgain, I'm living in a totally different place with new experiences and, you\n\n1073\n00:45:13.900 --> 00:45:14.360\nknow, different\n\n1074\n00:45:14.360 --> 00:45:16.000\nparts of my personality come out.\n\n1075\n00:45:16.000 --> 00:45:17.640\nSo just the setting is different.\n\n1076\n00:45:17.640 --> 00:45:21.800\nAnd I think that really has allowed for people to see more of a 360 of me.\n\n1077\n00:45:21.800 --> 00:45:23.760\nWell, we like to have a lot of fun.\n\n1078\n00:45:23.760 --> 00:45:25.760\nI laugh a lot.\n\n1079\n00:45:25.760 --> 00:45:29.060\nYou know, I really believe that being positive and fine and the learnings and\n\n1080\n00:45:29.060 --> 00:45:29.640\nthe bright\n\n1081\n00:45:29.640 --> 00:45:32.400\nspots and things is really important for me in life.\n\n1082\n00:45:32.400 --> 00:45:34.840\nWell, this has been a lot of fun, Tom.\n\n1083\n00:45:34.840 --> 00:45:39.440\nI want to begin to wrap this up with a rapid round of Q and A lightning round\n\n1084\n00:45:39.440 --> 00:45:40.080\nhere.\n\n1085\n00:45:40.080 --> 00:45:41.080\nAre you ready for it?\n\n1086\n00:45:41.080 --> 00:45:42.080\nGreat.\n\n1087\n00:45:42.080 --> 00:45:43.080\nI'm ready.\n\n1088\n00:45:43.080 --> 00:45:48.750\nAll right, what's the one word that describes Tom Brady as a patriot and the\n\n1089\n00:45:48.750 --> 00:45:49.800\none word that\n\n1090\n00:45:49.800 --> 00:45:53.680\ndescribes Tom Brady as a buccaneer?\n\n1091\n00:45:53.680 --> 00:45:59.520\nI'd say as a patriot, it was discipline and as a buccaneer authentic.\n\n1092\n00:45:59.520 --> 00:46:03.520\nI understand that one of the things that you love is you love watches.\n\n1093\n00:46:03.520 --> 00:46:04.520\nOkay.\n\n1094\n00:46:04.520 --> 00:46:06.840\nSo what do you collect watches?\n\n1095\n00:46:06.840 --> 00:46:11.080\nSo what's your favorite watch and why?\n\n1096\n00:46:11.080 --> 00:46:19.220\nMy wife bought me this IWC Portuguese for my 30th birthday, which was 14 years\n\n1097\n00:46:19.220 --> 00:46:20.000\nago.\n\n1098\n00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.120\nAnd I wear it to all my special occasions.\n\n1099\n00:46:24.120 --> 00:46:27.040\nSo I love the brand and I love her.\n\n1100\n00:46:27.040 --> 00:46:31.800\nAnd your favorite song for getting fired up to play?\n\n1101\n00:46:31.800 --> 00:46:39.360\nThere's a great rapper, Jay Z, who really always gets me hyped up.\n\n1102\n00:46:39.360 --> 00:46:42.440\nThere's a song that's called the public service announcement.\n\n1103\n00:46:42.440 --> 00:46:43.920\nSo it's a pretty cool.\n\n1104\n00:46:43.920 --> 00:46:45.520\nEvery time I hear it, I get fired up.\n\n1105\n00:46:45.520 --> 00:46:48.440\nSo I think I'm going to listen to that right after this conversation.\n\n1106\n00:46:48.440 --> 00:46:50.400\nMaybe you need to tell me your golf tournament.\n\n1107\n00:46:50.400 --> 00:46:54.640\nYou just put your little air pods in and walk in and get rocking.\n\n1108\n00:46:54.640 --> 00:46:55.640\nStruttin' in there.\n\n1109\n00:46:55.640 --> 00:46:56.640\nThat'd be great.\n\n1110\n00:46:56.640 --> 00:47:00.400\nYour favorite social media platform and why?\n\n1111\n00:47:00.400 --> 00:47:04.800\nProbably Instagram just because I like the visual aspect.\n\n1112\n00:47:04.800 --> 00:47:06.000\nTwitter I like.\n\n1113\n00:47:06.000 --> 00:47:08.160\nIt's just there's less emotion.\n\n1114\n00:47:08.160 --> 00:47:10.920\nYou know, pictures are worth a thousand words.\n\n1115\n00:47:10.920 --> 00:47:14.760\nAnd favorite book or podcast you've learned from in the past couple months?\n\n1116\n00:47:14.760 --> 00:47:19.280\nYou know which podcast I love the most.\n\n1117\n00:47:19.280 --> 00:47:24.360\nSo, this one, what book?\n\n1118\n00:47:24.360 --> 00:47:25.360\nGood question.\n\n1119\n00:47:25.360 --> 00:47:26.640\nI've been in my playbook a lot lately.\n\n1120\n00:47:26.640 --> 00:47:32.000\nSo probably my football playbook is the one that I've been studied focused on.\n\n1121\n00:47:32.000 --> 00:47:33.000\nYes, no.\n\n1122\n00:47:33.000 --> 00:47:36.160\nDo you think you can play till 50?\n\n1123\n00:47:36.160 --> 00:47:38.760\nI definitely think I can play till 50.\n\n1124\n00:47:38.760 --> 00:47:40.560\nWow, wow.\n\n1125\n00:47:40.560 --> 00:47:44.730\nSo now, Tom, you've got this whole set of challenges that comes with sustaining\n\n1126\n00:47:44.730 --> 00:47:45.280\nsuccess\n\n1127\n00:47:45.280 --> 00:47:46.720\nat a new team.\n\n1128\n00:47:46.720 --> 00:47:49.240\nAnd you're actually the favorite to win the Super Bowl.\n\n1129\n00:47:49.240 --> 00:47:50.240\nYou've already talked about it.\n\n1130\n00:47:50.240 --> 00:47:52.480\nYou just can't wait to get going.\n\n1131\n00:47:52.480 --> 00:47:55.400\nWhat's your message to your team now?\n\n1132\n00:47:55.400 --> 00:47:57.880\nAnd what's the message you're giving yourself?\n\n1133\n00:47:57.880 --> 00:48:01.240\nI think it's going to be a new set of challenges.\n\n1134\n00:48:01.240 --> 00:48:04.960\nSo I don't know what's going to come up.\n\n1135\n00:48:04.960 --> 00:48:07.760\nI don't know what adversities we're going to face.\n\n1136\n00:48:07.760 --> 00:48:09.480\nThere's going to be a lot that we don't know about.\n\n1137\n00:48:09.480 --> 00:48:12.880\nThere's going to be, again, a thousand things that come up.\n\n1138\n00:48:12.880 --> 00:48:15.600\nI want us to be ready to face those whatever they may be.\n\n1139\n00:48:15.600 --> 00:48:19.320\nSo I don't really care what comes up.\n\n1140\n00:48:19.320 --> 00:48:22.240\nI'm not going to make excuses for anything.\n\n1141\n00:48:22.240 --> 00:48:26.500\nI'm going to attack each day with the right process, with the right emotional\n\n1142\n00:48:26.500 --> 00:48:27.040\nstate of\n\n1143\n00:48:27.040 --> 00:48:31.600\nmind and try to be as close to perfect as possible.\n\n1144\n00:48:31.600 --> 00:48:34.680\nAnd understanding of pride will never be that way.\n\n1145\n00:48:34.680 --> 00:48:36.840\nI know, Tom, you're an avid golfer.\n\n1146\n00:48:36.840 --> 00:48:39.000\nSo I have to ask you this one.\n\n1147\n00:48:39.000 --> 00:48:45.550\nAs a business leader, hopefully I knew my stuff and I can operate pretty freely\n\n1148\n00:48:45.550 --> 00:48:45.720\n.\n\n1149\n00:48:45.720 --> 00:48:50.160\nBut I have a challenge bringing that same freedom to golf.\n\n1150\n00:48:50.160 --> 00:48:54.760\nCan you play freely in golf like you do in football?\n\n1151\n00:48:54.760 --> 00:48:58.920\nAnd how do you manage the high expectations you have that you obviously are\n\n1152\n00:48:58.920 --> 00:48:59.720\nable to deliver\n\n1153\n00:48:59.720 --> 00:49:04.640\nin your business world when you tee it up in golf?\n\n1154\n00:49:04.640 --> 00:49:09.600\nGolf is a very humbling sport.\n\n1155\n00:49:09.600 --> 00:49:10.920\nIt's very imperfect.\n\n1156\n00:49:10.920 --> 00:49:14.980\nI think what I'm trying to do with golf is just enjoy being out there more and\n\n1157\n00:49:14.980 --> 00:49:15.720\nless about\n\n1158\n00:49:15.720 --> 00:49:19.520\nscores and more about, you know, did I have fun with the experience?\n\n1159\n00:49:19.520 --> 00:49:25.630\nSo I played more golf this offseason than I have in the past just because it's\n\n1160\n00:49:25.630 --> 00:49:26.320\nbeen more\n\n1161\n00:49:26.320 --> 00:49:28.040\naccessible.\n\n1162\n00:49:28.040 --> 00:49:33.490\nAnd I'm trying to use it as a time to decompress as opposed to, you know, find\n\n1163\n00:49:33.490 --> 00:49:34.400\nmy competitive\n\n1164\n00:49:34.400 --> 00:49:35.400\nspirit.\n\n1165\n00:49:35.400 --> 00:49:37.840\nI feel like I have enough competitive drive.\n\n1166\n00:49:37.840 --> 00:49:41.510\nAnd yeah, there's definitely moments where I play in these tournaments that I\n\n1167\n00:49:41.510 --> 00:49:42.120\nget pissed\n\n1168\n00:49:42.120 --> 00:49:43.280\noff.\n\n1169\n00:49:43.280 --> 00:49:46.630\nThat competitiveness takes over, but for golfing in itself, I want to go out\n\n1170\n00:49:46.630 --> 00:49:47.320\nthere and just\n\n1171\n00:49:47.320 --> 00:49:48.320\nenjoy it.\n\n1172\n00:49:48.320 --> 00:49:52.200\nSo can you tell us a little bit about your new weekly radio show?\n\n1173\n00:49:52.200 --> 00:49:55.240\nYou're going to host with Larry Fitzgerald this season.\n\n1174\n00:49:55.240 --> 00:49:59.580\nAnd you know, I'm kind of hoping that you guys bring me on as a guest and ask\n\n1175\n00:49:59.580 --> 00:50:00.120\nme some\n\n1176\n00:50:00.120 --> 00:50:01.120\npodcast questions.\n\n1177\n00:50:01.120 --> 00:50:02.120\nI love it.\n\n1178\n00:50:02.120 --> 00:50:03.120\nI love it.\n\n1179\n00:50:03.120 --> 00:50:05.840\nThat's a great idea.\n\n1180\n00:50:05.840 --> 00:50:06.840\nThat will be fun.\n\n1181\n00:50:06.840 --> 00:50:07.840\nYeah, it's once a week.\n\n1182\n00:50:07.840 --> 00:50:08.840\nIt's on Sirius radio.\n\n1183\n00:50:08.840 --> 00:50:10.040\nIt's a great platform.\n\n1184\n00:50:10.040 --> 00:50:12.440\nThey've got obviously a ton of listeners.\n\n1185\n00:50:12.440 --> 00:50:16.270\nAnd again, I want it to be really focused on empowering people to be the best\n\n1186\n00:50:16.270 --> 00:50:16.800\nthey can\n\n1187\n00:50:16.800 --> 00:50:17.800\nbe.\n\n1188\n00:50:17.800 --> 00:50:19.280\nAnd I know there'll be a lot of sports centric fans.\n\n1189\n00:50:19.280 --> 00:50:24.080\nAnd I think Larry and I will try to bring our learnings of the sports to the\n\n1190\n00:50:24.080 --> 00:50:24.640\nmasses\n\n1191\n00:50:24.640 --> 00:50:28.760\nand see how people can apply some of those winning strategies in their life.\n\n1192\n00:50:28.760 --> 00:50:29.760\nI love that.\n\n1193\n00:50:29.760 --> 00:50:31.160\nAnd that's what the world needs.\n\n1194\n00:50:31.160 --> 00:50:34.320\nYou know, and you've got a lot of things happening now.\n\n1195\n00:50:34.320 --> 00:50:35.880\nYour future seems really bright.\n\n1196\n00:50:35.880 --> 00:50:40.060\nBut you know, speaking of the future, my friend Steven Covey talks about living\n\n1197\n00:50:40.060 --> 00:50:40.400\nlife\n\n1198\n00:50:40.400 --> 00:50:45.400\nin Crescendo, where your best work is still ahead of you.\n\n1199\n00:50:45.400 --> 00:50:48.400\nYou know, you've had an incredible career.\n\n1200\n00:50:48.400 --> 00:50:54.120\nAnd I saw where on HBO show the shop, you basically said that you admitted that\n\n1201\n00:50:54.120 --> 00:50:54.760\nyou're\n\n1202\n00:50:54.760 --> 00:50:57.560\nnear the end of the played time in the NFL.\n\n1203\n00:50:57.560 --> 00:51:01.840\nAlthough you think he can play to 50, and I hope you do, if you want, how are\n\n1204\n00:51:01.840 --> 00:51:02.560\nyou thinking\n\n1205\n00:51:02.560 --> 00:51:05.320\nabout life and work around the corner?\n\n1206\n00:51:05.320 --> 00:51:07.720\nWe just talked about this radio show you have.\n\n1207\n00:51:07.720 --> 00:51:09.400\nYou can have all kinds of possibilities.\n\n1208\n00:51:09.400 --> 00:51:10.400\nHow do you think about it?\n\n1209\n00:51:10.400 --> 00:51:12.480\nYeah, I'll have different business opportunities.\n\n1210\n00:51:12.480 --> 00:51:16.260\nAnd I think when I'm really focused on those things, they're going to be, you\n\n1211\n00:51:16.260 --> 00:51:16.880\nknow, just\n\n1212\n00:51:16.880 --> 00:51:19.910\nbeing able to impact people and hopefully people can see me and go, wow, I\n\n1213\n00:51:19.910 --> 00:51:20.480\nreally like\n\n1214\n00:51:20.480 --> 00:51:21.800\nhow Tom's done things.\n\n1215\n00:51:21.800 --> 00:51:25.200\nI think he's got some credibility in these areas.\n\n1216\n00:51:25.200 --> 00:51:31.050\nAnd, you know, I'm going to help support him and try to make some contributions\n\n1217\n00:51:31.050 --> 00:51:31.720\nto people\n\n1218\n00:51:31.720 --> 00:51:34.280\nbeyond, you know, throwing footballs.\n\n1219\n00:51:34.280 --> 00:51:35.880\nAnd I look forward to doing it.\n\n1220\n00:51:35.880 --> 00:51:40.150\nI really still look forward to throwing footballs, but when that's coming gone,\n\n1221\n00:51:40.150 --> 00:51:40.960\nI'll look forward\n\n1222\n00:51:40.960 --> 00:51:45.280\nto, you know, trying to do other things that can have a similar positive impact\n\n1223\n00:51:45.280 --> 00:51:45.520\n.\n\n1224\n00:51:45.520 --> 00:51:48.520\nWell, let me tell you something, Tom.\n\n1225\n00:51:48.520 --> 00:51:50.480\nWe all love how you're doing things.\n\n1226\n00:51:50.480 --> 00:51:53.360\nWe all love the impact you're having on this world.\n\n1227\n00:51:53.360 --> 00:51:57.480\nAnd I can't tell you how much I appreciate you joining me and my quest to\n\n1228\n00:51:57.480 --> 00:51:58.440\nreally try to\n\n1229\n00:51:58.440 --> 00:52:02.080\nhelp make the world a better place by developing better leaders by sharing your\n\n1230\n00:52:02.080 --> 00:52:02.760\ninsights.\n\n1231\n00:52:02.760 --> 00:52:04.000\nSo thank you very much.\n\n1232\n00:52:04.000 --> 00:52:06.240\nYeah, happy to do it, obviously.\n\n1233\n00:52:06.240 --> 00:52:08.320\nAnd again, glad we could do this.\n\n1234\n00:52:08.320 --> 00:52:11.780\nAnd fingers are crossed that it leads to something pretty successful here down\n\n1235\n00:52:11.780 --> 00:52:12.280\nthe road.\n\n1236\n00:52:12.280 --> 00:52:17.480\nI can't wait for podcast number four.\n\n1237\n00:52:17.480 --> 00:52:18.480\nThank you very much, buddy.\n\n1238\n00:52:18.480 --> 00:52:19.480\nThank you.\n\n1239\n00:52:19.480 --> 00:52:19.640\nBye, David.\n\n1240\n00:52:19.640 --> 00:52:33.590\nWell, every time I talk to Tom, I'm so inspired by his leadership jumping into\n\n1241\n00:52:33.590 --> 00:52:34.920\na new situation\n\n1242\n00:52:34.920 --> 00:52:40.130\nlike that, proving himself all over again with a new group of people that takes\n\n1243\n00:52:40.130 --> 00:52:40.680\nso much\n\n1244\n00:52:40.680 --> 00:52:41.920\ncourage.\n\n1245\n00:52:41.920 --> 00:52:46.250\nIt also takes a lot of energy to establish trust and build relationships when\n\n1246\n00:52:46.250 --> 00:52:46.840\nyou find\n\n1247\n00:52:46.840 --> 00:52:48.640\nyourself in a new role.\n\n1248\n00:52:48.640 --> 00:52:52.560\nAnd you know, Tom has a great process for doing it.\n\n1249\n00:52:52.560 --> 00:52:55.280\nYou probably remember his little acronym.\n\n1250\n00:52:55.280 --> 00:53:00.290\nHe calls it the CCC model, which is basically you want to be clear in how you\n\n1251\n00:53:00.290 --> 00:53:01.280\ncommunicate\n\n1252\n00:53:01.280 --> 00:53:02.560\nwith people.\n\n1253\n00:53:02.560 --> 00:53:06.330\nYou want to be current so that you really have the facts and understand what\n\n1254\n00:53:06.330 --> 00:53:07.040\nthe reality\n\n1255\n00:53:07.040 --> 00:53:08.040\nis.\n\n1256\n00:53:08.040 --> 00:53:11.630\nAnd then you want to communicate quickly so that that communication is out\n\n1257\n00:53:11.630 --> 00:53:12.200\nthere and\n\n1258\n00:53:12.200 --> 00:53:14.760\npeople know where you're coming from.\n\n1259\n00:53:14.760 --> 00:53:15.760\nClear.\n\n1260\n00:53:15.760 --> 00:53:16.760\nCurrent.\n\n1261\n00:53:16.760 --> 00:53:17.760\nCommunicate quickly.\n\n1262\n00:53:17.760 --> 00:53:22.160\nThat's a CCC model with that kind of process.\n\n1263\n00:53:22.160 --> 00:53:26.960\nTom quickly built strong bonds with his teammates and coaches.\n\n1264\n00:53:26.960 --> 00:53:31.280\nThose kind of relationships are key if you want to go after big goals and\n\n1265\n00:53:31.280 --> 00:53:32.080\nbounce back\n\n1266\n00:53:32.080 --> 00:53:34.040\nfrom defeats.\n\n1267\n00:53:34.040 --> 00:53:35.200\nSo let's move on.\n\n1268\n00:53:35.200 --> 00:53:37.880\nIt's time for me to give you a little coaching.\n\n1269\n00:53:37.880 --> 00:53:42.620\nThis week, as part of your weekly personal development plan, I want you to get\n\n1270\n00:53:42.620 --> 00:53:43.200\na sticky\n\n1271\n00:53:43.200 --> 00:53:46.760\nnote and just write CCC on it.\n\n1272\n00:53:46.760 --> 00:53:50.690\nPick that up on your desk or on your computer and let it be a reminder of how\n\n1273\n00:53:50.690 --> 00:53:51.240\nyou want to\n\n1274\n00:53:51.240 --> 00:53:53.360\ncommunicate this week.\n\n1275\n00:53:53.360 --> 00:53:56.680\nIt'll just be a friendly cue that, yeah, you need to clear up that\n\n1276\n00:53:56.680 --> 00:53:57.640\nmisunderstanding\n\n1277\n00:53:57.640 --> 00:54:02.300\nor get more information so you know the reality of a situation or realize you\n\n1278\n00:54:02.300 --> 00:54:03.000\nneed to speak\n\n1279\n00:54:03.000 --> 00:54:05.800\nup about your own expectations.\n\n1280\n00:54:05.800 --> 00:54:07.120\nYou get the idea.\n\n1281\n00:54:07.120 --> 00:54:10.450\nThis is something that you can use to help you throughout the week and\n\n1282\n00:54:10.450 --> 00:54:11.200\nhopefully from\n\n1283\n00:54:11.200 --> 00:54:12.440\nnow on.\n\n1284\n00:54:12.440 --> 00:54:17.300\nWhen we do all those things, it creates trust and openness in our relationships\n\n1285\n00:54:17.300 --> 00:54:17.400\n.\n\n1286\n00:54:17.400 --> 00:54:22.480\nAnd when you've got that as a leader, believe me, you are unstoppable.\n\n1287\n00:54:22.480 --> 00:54:24.400\nSo do you want to know how leaders lead?\n\n1288\n00:54:24.400 --> 00:54:28.560\nWhat we learned today is that great leaders build strong relationships with\n\n1289\n00:54:28.560 --> 00:54:30.000\nclear communication.\n\n1290\n00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:33.780\nThanks again for tuning in to another episode of How Leaders Lead, where every\n\n1291\n00:54:33.780 --> 00:54:34.600\nThursday you\n\n1292\n00:54:34.600 --> 00:54:38.960\nget to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world.\n\n1293\n00:54:38.960 --> 00:54:42.720\nI make it a point to give you something simple on each episode that you can\n\n1294\n00:54:42.720 --> 00:54:43.520\napply to your\n\n1295\n00:54:43.520 --> 00:54:47.840\nbusiness so that you will become the best leader you can be.\n\n1296\n00:54:47.840 --> 00:54:57.840\n[BLANK_AUDIO]\n\n1297\n00:54:57.840 --> 00:55:07.840\n[ Silence ]","

David Novak 0:04

Welcome to How leaders lead where every week you get to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world, I break down the key learnings so that by the end of the episode, you'll have something simple you can apply as you develop into a better leader. That's what this podcast is all about. Today's guest is Tom Brady, the quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And let's be honest, the greatest quarterback of all time. Now, we all go into new situations where we're expected to come in, turn the team around and perform. And that's exactly what Tom did at the Bucs winning the Super Bowl in his very first season at Tampa Bay. I mean, that's why they call him the goat, right? So in this conversation, we really dig into what made that transition from the patriots to the bucks, so darn successful. Now, of course, Tom is known for his elite discipline and his grit, and with good reason. But Tom is also incredible at building relationships with his teammates, coaches and management. For us leaders, so much depends on how we connect and communicate with people. Do we know how to convey our expectations? Clearly? Do we know how to build consensus? Do we have the courage to tackle the tough conversations right away and not let them fester? Tom Sure does. And this conversation is a goldmine of wisdom for how to build strong relationships through clear communication, especially if you find yourself leading in a new situation. Oh, and by the way, if that's not enough, Tom gives me a pretty darn direct answer when I asked him if he thinks he can play until he's 50. So let's get right to it. Here's my conversation with my good friend, and soon to be yours, Tom Brady.

Tom, I want to thank you, first of all, for doing this podcast, because you've done too before. But we do have a streak going.

Tom Brady 2:09

I think we should keep the streak going if we break this streak that I'm not as smart as you might think I am.

David Novak 2:16

Well, let's just keep doing podcast and winning Super Bowls. You know, Tom, it's not often that you get access into the psychology of one of the greatest athletes of all time. So I really want to thank you for taking the time to have this conversation.

Tom Brady 2:31

Well, in first of all, I'd like to say thanks for having me on. I know we've done this a few times. But I think what I appreciate about what you're doing, David is you're you know, you have such a distinct point of view based on your experiences. And I think you're able to draw that out for the people that you interview. And you really allow great access for people to hear what's really going on because you ask the right questions. So an interview is often as good as the interviewee. And I think you do a great job really tapping into what's really important. And certainly leadership is a big focus that as I've grown into over the years, and I think back to high school, you know, I was, if something that was probably a little more natural for me, then I would say run on a 40 yard dash. You know, as a captain of my high school football team, I always end up being the captain of my college team. I was a captain of my pro team over all these years. And I think it's just more of a natural thing for me than some of the things that have been much more challenging. It's one

David Novak 3:25

thing for my experience to have the freedom of new possibilities of going into a new situation like you did with Tampa Bay, versus having to cope with year after year high expectations like you had at New England, just how different is it to go into the pressure of performing in a new situation.

Tom Brady 3:44

As I think about a new situation last year that I was coming into, I tried to apply a lot of the things I've learned over the years, and certainly a lot of the people that I have been around over the years that I have learned from and, you know, as we've talked about before, you know, one of your beliefs, leadership is about caring for people, you know, and being a lifelong learner and curiosity. And all those things I feel like are have been really important to my overall success. But certainly going into a new situation last year, as it kind of really knocks in the face, like oh, this is where we're at. This is what we got to do, you know, in order to get our team going in the right direction. So much is about Yeah, process and the plays and doing the right thing and but it's also about caring for one another, have an aligned interest and you know, a goal of obviously winning a Super Bowl, which we had. But you know, ultimately for me, the quarterback, the great opportunity I have on the field is I actually get to do it. You know, it's not like I am in necessarily a management position, I get the opportunity to actually go out there and do it with my teammates. So I guess applying these values of leadership, but actually being able to do them in the field with my teammates. It was really one of the most rewarding experiences that I've ever had in my life.

David Novak 4:57

Let's talk about that a little more. Looking back ACC what was the biggest eye opener for you?

Tom Brady 5:02

One of the amazing memories last year I think signing with the Bucs and March, going through Coronavirus, but actually getting to know my teammates and seeing kind of, you know, I was my 21st season. So there was a lot of experience in football, you know, okay, this is where I think I can make the most of our time this I feel like I can, whether that was a physical thing with as a mental thing, this is the play that I liked this is this is where I think we need to improve physically is how you need to improve your route running, you know, and then Emotionally, I saw being on the same page. So it's a lot of touch and feel to on a daily basis for me, and at the same time trying to maintain my own level of performance. So a lot goes into it. And I think like I said, it's very rewarding when it all comes together and you win. But more so than the win. You know, I think the joy for the year for me was in the journey, you know, meeting a new group of people and I had an amazing two decade career at one place, but then going to a new place and applying a lot of the things I had learned. Plus learning a lot of new things from a new group of people, you know, learning there are different ways to do things. When I was when one place we did it one way that was it, there was just one way to do things. I go to Tampa last year, and it's a different way. And that's okay. And we were able to achieve and perform at a high level in a different way, which really opened my eyes and was very satisfying of, you know, okay, like this is a this is a great way to win as well.

David Novak 6:30

You know, so many people ask themselves the wrong questions when they go into new situations, like, what happens if I fail? What will others think if I don't win here? Did you have any of those inner dragons pop up in your head?

Tom Brady 6:43

No, I didn't. That's a great question. And Larry, Larry Fitzgerald, and I talked about this one time, you know, what comes with failure? And why that really limits people from succeeding, you know, and, again, I think there's a naivete about me that, you know, what do you mean fail? I don't even know what she's talking about, like, you know, you try. And if it doesn't work, doesn't work, but it's not failing. You know, and I think, if you're thinking about failing, man, what if this doesn't go? Right? Yeah, that's, it's really hard to be, you know, your true, spontaneous, joyful self, you're trying to, you know, not fail is a lot different than trying to succeed. And the best players I've ever seen that when the moments not too big for them is they don't really don't care what comes along with failure. You know, they know how to deal with it, or they've dealt with it in the past, or, you know, they understand, okay, this is, this is not that big a deal. Let me just give it all I got, you know, that's the way to ultimately go about things is to not think about what happens if it doesn't go? Well, you know, that'll set you back. Now, you don't have much of a chance of success. If you do that.

David Novak 7:45

Well, what are the good questions, you think that a leader needs to ask themselves when they go into a new situation?

Tom Brady 7:51

I think obviously, having a lot of self awareness to be able to evaluate, okay, what exact situation am I getting myself into? And what can I do to help the situation? You know, again, football is pretty simple, you know, in the sense that, you know, it's a pretty specific position I was entering, you know, if, if you're a head coach, you're entering a different type of position, you know, you're going into as a quarterback, and I'm looking at how I've played quarterback for 20 years, and I'm looking at how the person here played quarterback prior to me, and I'm going, Okay, well, if I was in that situation, this is the decision I would have made. And then it's just a daily process of, okay, this is my job. And this is how I'm going to try to improve this position on team, you know, through a communication, humility, respect, caring learning, and everybody does that to different degrees. But again, you got to be able to apply those, you know, real time. And, again, some of its physical, some of its mental, some of its emotional, and you have probably a broad overall strategy that you're trying to accomplish. But then there's also little details that you've got to be able to figure out on a daily basis, and it takes a long time. It doesn't happen overnight. Because if you come in and you know, the last thing anyone wants to hear is, hey, this is what we did at the Patriots. You know, no one wants to hear that. Like, I remember when

David Novak 9:15

it being packaged goods, people say, Oh, I worked at Procter and Gamble, everybody go off, they start the gag.

Tom Brady 9:21

Oh, the same thing. I mean, nobody wants to hear that. And I was really conscious. Like, I don't want to hear that either. You know what I mean? I want to earn what we're doing going forward. And you know, this is how the Bucs do it. And this is how I think I can help improve what we're doing. And I was very, you know, I came into a situation where everybody was really receptive of that as well. They really allowed me to be who I am. And I think I'm very grateful for the leadership that is here prior to me with the players, some of the real veteran core players that were doing an amazing job at what they did, and an amazing coaching staff that the coaches are, you know, they provide a huge responsibility on the team. But the one thing that coaches can't do is they can't play. And the players as much as they want to coach and give strategy and leadership, it's up to the players to go execute. And I've always loved being in the plane, because I get to go do it. But the coaches really allowed me to be the best I could be as well, which I was obviously very

David Novak 10:21

grateful for, you know, Tom, you You're, you're such a big believer in culture. And we've talked about this before. And I remember you telling me when you were with the Patriots, you said no difference between us and other teams. It's three o'clock, Tuesday afternoon, it's snowing, it's freezing, and we're out there going through it. Like it's just, you know, we got to win this drive to win the Super Bowl, you know, and so, you know, when you got to the Bucs, what did you see as in the difference between the cultures, versus what you had at the Patriots?

Tom Brady 10:52

There's a lot of things. It's really very different in every aspect. And again, it's it's not, I mean, just think of the climates. First of all, the Northeast is very different than the southeast, you know, being down in Tampa. The most difficult part of the season in Tampa is August. And when it's just incredibly hot and humid, the season gets much easier for the players as the season goes because the weather gets better. So you really need to be in good shape early. You know, up in the northeast, it's very different. The season gets much harder as the season goes because the climate gets much colder. And everything I mean, the the practice facility, the lifestyle. The aspects of football are very different when you're when you're a warm weather team. It's much more suited to the passing game than being in a cold weather climate. It's the difference between golf in Palm Springs and golf in Northern Ireland. I mean, it's just it's a different style. There's much more activity for the players off the field down here. There's beaches, there's clubs, there's nightlife, there's casinos, I mean, in northeast, there's none of that you don't have to deal with any of those things. I mean, this is such a destination for people to come on vacation, you know, up in Foxborough, Massachusetts, that's not really a destination. And then when it comes to the football, you know, I would say, Coach Arians, he's an incredible leader, but he's not a micromanager. He allows the coaches to Okay, you guys, coach, I'm gonna see what I'm gonna see. And I'm going to add my input where I think I need to add it. And, you know, Coach Pella check is very hands on with the defense, a little less so with the offense, but a lot with the special teams and obviously Coronavirus, I really even haven't had a normal season yet. You know, one season it was, you know, with with, you know, with COVID last year was entirely Miami and had a full stadium yet. You know, again, it's just a lot of things getting used to, and it was good for my brain, you know, it's good for my brain to relearn a drive to work as simple as that sounds, learn new restaurants or to learn new neighborhoods.

David Novak 12:55

Was there something Tom that you felt as a leader when you got there and you saw the culture, which different for obvious reasons that you talked about? Was there something that you felt like you needed to help the team change something that you really felt needed to be added to the culture,

Tom Brady 13:08

I felt like, you know, me being myself and doing my job was, you know, going to go to based on my experience and what I had gone through if I can provide some consistency, and continuity to the position, and a high level of play. I mean, there was so many players that were receptive to what I could bring, because the beneficiary of a good quarterback is good skilled position players, good receivers, good tight ends, you know, the line, I mean, I can improve all those positions, just by me being me. And, you know, I have a great understanding of the game of football. I played it for a long time. You know, it doesn't take away from what the guy before me Jameis was was trying to do here, it's just, I've had a lot of experience, I know how to get things done. I know how to play the game, I think through the game more mentally than physically, you know, I believe that football is 60 or 70%. Mental. And, yeah, I need to physically be able to be capable, pass the football. But at the same time, my brain is going to allow me to excel and not my physical traits.

David Novak 14:14

You know, every leader that you come in that new situation, and you've got an address the team and you weren't the coach, but you were Tom Brady, you're the quarterback and you're going to be the leader of that team just by that. Okay. But tell us about the first time you addressed your team. What did you say to him?

Tom Brady 14:32

I did it in probably groups of people rather than an entire team. I think when I got here, there was kind of a group of players, maybe four guys I got together with and that four turned into seven that seven turned into 10 that 10 turned into like 12 or 13. And at that point, I thought I had a really good relationship with those 12 or 13 guys where they really could start to feel my presence and feel my personality. You know, I'm not someone That lets the details go. I mean, I think I, I'm very intent on getting things done the way they needed to get done. I mean, a lot of things I've learned over the years again, don't mistake activity for achievement. You know, we always say, Don't think that just because you're breaking sweat, you're getting anything done. I mean, we're not out there just to run around. And I think working hard at the wrong things allows you to get better at getting worse. And, you know, if we're going to work, we're going to work at the right things. And I think from the day that I got here, I said, Okay, these are the things that I'm going to apply on the field, I know, these are the things that are going to come up, this is what we're going to work on. And I started out with just individual workouts with those three or four players. And I tried to improve that to the seven guys. And I tried to improve that to the 10 guys. And by the time we got to training camp, I felt like, okay, we're in a decent place. The one thing I'm pro sports that's most important is continuity. And I'm sure it's a lot like business, the more you're with groups of people, the more you're allowed to really anticipate where the issues lie, and how quickly you can solve the problems. It's different in football, football is a simple game. But it's hard to get 11 people on the same page, every single play. And then when you add that to the defense, those 11 Guys, and then when you add that to a special teams unit, those 11 Guys, so then you add that to the other guys who played more roles on the team, then you add that to a coaching staff. That's the challenge of football, you know, I could do that with the offense, it took a while for us to really come together. But I thought that was pretty natural part of the progression. You know, it's hard to just come out of the gates and be firing on all cylinders, when you've never had the opportunity to be together.

David Novak 16:37

Was there a specific moment? When you knew that you started out? With seven, you go to 12? You keep adding, you know, but was there a specific moment where you had the team looking to you as the leader? Did that happen automatically, just because of your track record or view? You recall a moment where he said, Hey, there, look, I've got the team now,

Tom Brady 16:58

everyone's pretty receptive. I mean, I think by the time that training camp started, the guys were pretty receptive to saying, Alright, Tom, we're here to do what, what, what you'd love for us to do? I mean, from a player's standpoint, that's, that's my guys, the guys that I'm doing battle with out there. You know, they're looking to me saying, okay, you know, get it done for us, you know, and I think as the season went along, I got a little more trust to the defense, I got a little more trust to the coaching staff, because, again, the coaching staff provides great a roadmap. And, you know, we want to follow that roadmap as players. And, you know, again, they're super receptive to me having, you know, input into those things, and vice versa, you know, it's not like, Tom Brady walks in noise says, Hey, do all these things. I don't think that's the way to do it. You know, you say, Hey, how do we do it? And they teach me? And at the same time, I say, Okay, well, I like that, I'd love to do this, because this is the way that I've done it for 20 years. And I really, I can really anticipate, you know, these things, and I'm really good at running these plays. And they'd say, Great, let's do those things. And I think it was a great combination of things that we're able to learn from one another that allowed us to reach the point where we wanted to reach by the end of the year. So Tom,

David Novak 18:10

you know, you come in this new situation, you have a lot of new players, you got to get to know, how did you go about assessing the talent you had to work with?

Tom Brady 18:17

I did a lot of that, before I even got here, I was kind of looking around in free agency saying, Where can I go be successful? And what place can allow me to be the player that I'm capable being, you know, it's, if you're running back and you don't have an old line, it doesn't matter how good you are at running back. If you're a cornerback, and you don't have a good pass rush, you're not going to be that good of a player. If you're a quarterback. And you don't have guys to throw the ball to it's going to be very difficult for you to showcase your abilities on the field. So part of my choosing Tampa was I looked down I saw Mike Evans and I saw Chris Godwin and I saw cam break and OJ Howard. And I was like they have a lot of talent. You know if I can play with those guys, I think I can really, you know, be the player I want to be and then I was able to choose here. Rob Gronkowski came out of retirement and Tonio Brown. We signed Antonio Brown midway through the year. Well, at that point, I had a lot of talented players I was working with. And it's really fun for me, because, again, on the other end of those passes, that I'm throwing, they need to be completed. And I had a high level of talent that I was working with that was able to catch the passes and make me look good. Absolutely. It's really fun to go man, I want to see how great I can be. But I can only be great if the other guys around me are great. And I have a great group of players, not only last year, but I'm really excited to see what we can accomplish this year because now we got a year under our belt together.

David Novak 19:47

Yeah, well, the whole world waiting to see that happen. You know, Tom, you have a process that you use for going one on one with a new teammate.

Tom Brady 19:54

I think a lot of it's listening. I've said this in my personal life, but also in My professional life CCC, clear current communication, and why that's so important, you know, really being clear, not, you know, man, I'm going to say something and see if they can figure it out. Or I'm going to, you know, try to dance around a topic and then current, you know, what's happening in the moment, not, hey, this thing happened two months ago, and it's really bothered me, it's no, hey, this is the situation we're currently dealing with. And you got to communicate, and so many people don't want to communicate, you know, so many people want to, you know, just keep to themselves, Silo their conversations, deal with people that only are going to agree with them. And I believe in, you know, CCC, Hey, be really clear about what it is. And let's be really current about what we're talking about, and let's talk. And I think if we work on those things, then, you know, I don't want to have to guess all the time, what you're thinking, you know, we can't solve problems, if you're thinking one thing or thinking another, or I really find it difficult for people who create expectations without telling the other person, you know, well, this is what, you know, this is what I was expecting them to do, but they never did it. I'm like, Well, did you ever tell them or know what I mean? They should know? Yeah, I'm like, get that out of here. Don't want to hear that, you know, now I can hold you accountable. If I told you, Hey, do this, or I'm expecting this to happen, a particular situation, if you don't do that situation, or that what I've said, we're, you know, we're gonna have a talk. But if I don't ever tell you what I want, then how can I hold you accountable for that? So CCC is really important on a personal level, but it's certainly really important in a professional environment as well.

David Novak 21:42

A CCC that sounds like a title of a great, great book someday, you know, I love that. That's a great leadership lesson. And it's so simple. It's fantastic. You know, you know the game so well. And when you see opportunities to improve player personnel, how do you go about influencing that it gets done, because you're not the general manager? How do you how do you say, hey, you know, we really need a Gronk? Or we really need a Antonio Brown? Do you just go have CCC? With the general manager? Absolutely.

Tom Brady 22:11

And I said, Look, I played with Antonio. And I really liked him, I really, we have a great connection. He's a has a high football IQ. He's extremely talented. And I feel like I can count on him. And we need to have a personal relationship, Antonio and I and we do. And the last thing Antonio wants is to let me down, and I don't want to let him down. And I think when I'm around other great players, that's great motivation, if they're bringing their best, I've got to bring my best. And Antonio had a relationship with Bruce and Bruce, our head coach really liked Antonio, he made the ultimate decision to say, look, I'm not going in there to tell anyone what to do. I'm not my job is quarterback, I'm not there to tell coaches what to do. I'm not there to tell General Managers, what do I'm there to support their decisions, you know, and to say, you know, yes, I'm fully, I think that I can really help here. So if we choose, if you guys choose to bring him in, I'm all for it. And I'm gonna do everything I can to help you make it successful. And I think that's what my role is, I don't want to be the general manager, I don't want to be the head coach, I want to do my job. But when it comes to my job, I want to support the things that they're trying to accomplish too. And again, that just comes from communication with myself and Bruce, myself and Jason light, who's our GM? And, you know, I think that's how you get things done.

David Novak 23:29

Yeah, you know, you obviously have this incredible belief in yourself, and you got to believe if you don't believe nothing's gonna happen, you know, as a leader, coming into a new situation, how do you go about spreading that belief? Is it just just doing the work yourself?

Tom Brady 23:44

Yeah. Fortunately, I've had a track record of success that guys could look to without ever having a relationship with me. And naturally, they believe, you know, I achieve success early in my career. So that that that helped as well, when I was younger player, you know, we as athletes want to be successful. We want to surround ourselves with other successful people. We don't want to play and lose. We want to play and win. And, you know, guys have come to play with me because they have a belief that they can win when they're with me. And, again, I want to try to see them and say, Okay, well, you know, I can look at a player like Gronk I know why we need a Gronk I know what Gronk can do to a team. I know what he can do for us in terms of our offense. I know what his ability in the past game in the run game is I know what he can do for the locker room. I know what he can do on the practice field. Gronk is very emotionally stable. Gronk if you're in a foxhole, you want Rob Gronkowski with you. So if the opportunity presents itself to get a player like Rob Gronkowski on the team, I am 100% supportive of that because I want all those guys. I want to have those guys that when the going gets tough. You want Rob Gronkowski on your side. So Mike Evans, I learned that about Mike. Mike was one of the all time great receivers, but at the same time, Mike hadn't experienced playoff football You know, because the team just couldn't figure out how to get on the right track. And watching Mike step up to the challenge of okay, this kind of how things have been, which basically a mediocre team eight and eight, maybe a little less than that to, okay, these are expectations for championship level team. And then watching Mike Wright rise to the occasion, and step up every step of the way and embrace that challenge and and really embrace me challenging him. You know, he loved it. And he was like, This is what I want to be I'm a, I'm this type of player as well. And, again, that's just one year now I'm looking to see how Mike takes it to the next level. And I can already see it this year. What how Mike's taking it to the next level, his whole offseason, training is better, his whole training camp is better. He's in the best position to succeed now than he's ever been. So now for me is watching him as his friend. I'm excited to see him play because I believe he's going to have his best year he's ever had.

David Novak 26:01

That's great. You know it, I have to ask you this with Tom, did you feel more pressure in your first game at Tampa Bay? Because it was so highly anticipated that you did it your last game in New England in the Superbowl?

Tom Brady 26:14

That's a good question. Again, I think I was a little bit naive toward the pressure, I feel it felt very much like football. We got our butt kicked pretty bad in New Orleans, my first game for the box. That was very humbling. I guess I was discouraged from losing. But I wasn't discouraged from our team, I realized that, yep, we still got a lot, we got a long way to go as much as I put into last offseason, as much as we put in a training camp as prepared as I thought I was, we were still a long ways away. And it was good. It was humbling, and allowed us to work harder and get closer. And the losses teach you, as I'm sure you know, when things don't go well in business, those teach you a lot more than when things are going well. And if you've learned from those errors and mistakes, you can reach a higher level.

David Novak 27:09

You know, like anyone who switches jobs, you had to get used to a new boss, what was the biggest challenge going from a Bella check to a coach Aaron's

Tom Brady 27:18

I think just it's the process of just getting to know, you know, personality and getting to know, we know what he's looking for, and what is important to him. And, you know, you want your head coach to be satisfied with you. I mean, I think one thing is a player, it's, it's a unique relationship, you know, it's always, you're always trying to somehow gain the approval of the head coach, you know, you just you want the coach to be happy with how you're performing. So, me understanding what his expectations were for me, and Bruce has a very different personality than then Bill. Bruce is the first offensive coach I've ever had, in 30 years of playing football. He was the first offensive head coach, which was very different for me, things were more suited for the offense. In practice, you know, it was offensive was like, hey, this, what we're focusing on today, you know, is more offensive, strategically thought out, as opposed to Coach Belichick. Over the years was, I would say, more defensive minded. And even away it was in college for me. So we just kind of go for it on offense. And whatever happens happens. It's a different type of strategy. Sometimes, we were more protective of the football of the defense here, I would say the defense has to be more protective of the offense in a way, which is very unique. And again, a good eye opener for me. You know, I just had learned one way and I like, you know, this way of the offense is very exciting. We do. And we try to we try to go for it. Every time we get the ball. We're trying to be explosive and attacking every single time.

David Novak 28:52

That's fun to watch, you know, early in the season. I remember you were criticized by coach Ariens. You know, he actually went on ESPN, he said that you weren't performing like the Tom Brady that performs in practice. Okay, you're my friend. And I have to tell you that earth be you know, when I saw it on ESPN, how about you

Tom Brady 29:11

know, that was that's good for me to hear at times, too. You know, and I think that encourages conversation between the two of us. And again, Bruce, one thing about Bruce that I absolutely love is he says what he feels he says what he thinks and it's just how he does it, and it's his style, and it's nothing personal.

David Novak 29:30

Do you think it was a calculated move to whip his horse? Absolutely.

Tom Brady 29:34

I think he does a good job of that. And he knows what he's doing. He's got a great pulse for that. He knows what he's doing.

David Novak 29:39

Did that take pressure off you because he he treated you like everybody else on the team on national television?

Tom Brady 29:44

Absolutely. I don't think it takes pressure off you but it's good for you because the other players want to know. I'm accountable as well. Him calling me out in that way allowed me to have conversations with him and myself. You're right. I need to prove One better, I need to play better. And if I'm going to play better, you know this, how I'm going to prepare more. And, you know, it's it's a whole trickle down effect

David Novak 30:09

later on that year. You know, Coach Arias said you were like the coach of the team. And you didn't get the same opportunity to do that at New England now, how did it make you feel when you've evolved like that where you said, you're like a coach of the team?

Tom Brady 30:23

Well, I'm older than most coaches at this point, if you look, I'd say there's probably 10 or 12 coaches that are younger than me, and I have a great understanding of the game. So I am the coach on the field. That's just the way it is. That's how quarterbacks are. And when you have somewhat of my experience, you want me to be the coach on the field, you'd rather turn the reins over to an experienced player than, you know, a rookie quarterback. I mean, unfortunately, they're, they may be the coach on the field, but they don't have much experience. So Bruce, and I have a great relationship where, you know, it's just, there's no beating around the bush, you know, ba says, Tom, I need you to do this. No problem, coach, I'll do it. And I'll say be I need us. This is what I would like us to do. No problem, Tom, that's what we'll do. And that was really exciting for me, you know, I'd say, in New England, it's much more coaching focused, you know, that's just the reality of that organization. And it has been, you know, and it's just over the years, you know, I was part of that whole transgression. And it's really worked well, there, the history and the success speaks for itself. And the continuity, there really allowed some great things to happen. And I think what you'd love to do is have the same continuity here, and we have that a player's of coaches. And, again, I think it just speaks to, I really want to see what happens this year, I really want to see how we perform. And I'm just excited to get started. We get started here pretty shortly. And I want to see how the work pays off this year.

David Novak 31:49

You know, great leaders coach themselves, Tom, what's the conversation you have with yourself? When things don't go your way?

Tom Brady 31:57

I'm pretty tough on myself. I don't make excuses. I don't blame others. But I want to find a solution. Criticizing without a solution is is just essentially complaining, you may as well be a Monday morning quarterback at that point, the critique for me is all about the solution. If something doesn't work, it's why didn't it work? You know, and how do we get it to work? Not some BS reason why it wasn't successful. Let's get to the root of the problem. Let's solve it. And I think that's the best way to go about it.

David Novak 32:28

When was it? Tom, when you? Did you have a pivotal moment when you went into this season last year? Where were you actually believe the team could go all the way?

Tom Brady 32:37

I wasn't sure I didn't think I didn't think about that. That destination point, I was more focused on the process of improving on a daily basis rather than the final destination. I mean, it was a it was a series of steps. It wasn't any one thing. I mean, it was a there was 1000 things that we needed to do better from week one all the way through the end of the season. And by the end of the season, I'd say we're at a pretty great point. And I thought we were still improving as a football team as the season ended. So I didn't really know we're going to win the Super Bowl until that clock 000 at the end.

David Novak 33:15

It was it was great to see I'd say that, you know, Tom, I recently learned that early on in the season. Your father had a very, very, very serious bout with COVID 19 How did you handle the personal adversity of that and, and play the football you play?

Tom Brady 33:33

Well, I think part of it was just I have three great sisters who really were there for my parents, physically. And emotionally. Two of them were up there with my mom with my dad. And you know, it's again dealing with work, but also it's life, you know, for all of us there. At this point, that's all interwoven. My relationships are my work, my personal life, my family, none of its, you know, different. It's all the same. You know, my sisters were there to kind of hold down the fort and I would call in every day we check in multiple times. And it was a struggle for my dad. But he made it through he's a fighter and you know, just loved being able to get him to games last year you know, he flew back for a Sunday night game flew back obviously for the Super Bowl. So just that you know, adversity brings us all closer together brought my parents closer. But my problem my family closer and there's no good without bad and there's no bad without good. And, you know, it's just one of those things that we've all had to deal with. It

David Novak 34:45

was great to see your whole family enjoy that that big boom. And I'll tell you what, and not many people knew that during the season you were playing on a bad knee and what do you tell yourself, you know, when you've got an injury like that, it motivates you to persevere and let's face it, you know Uh, two weeks after the Super Bowl, I think you had a knee operation I saw he was just right after he had that operation. That surprised me. I gotta tell you, I didn't know you had that kind of pain.

Tom Brady 35:09

Yeah, it's I had been dealing with them, I tore my ACL MCL, 13 years ago, I tore my MCL a few times over the course of the seasons that I just kind of dealt with. And it got looser and looser and looser to the point where there was no stability in my knee. And I knew it at the beginning of last offseason that my MCL was was wasn't doing its job. And I basically just taped my knee every day to create stability for like, seven or eight months. And I just I knew that if I could tape it during the game and wear a brace, it would be fine. And, you know, hopefully it wouldn't get any worse. It was already bad. So, you know, I could still play. I just couldn't play necessarily the way that I wanted to. And I know that sounds kind of that sounds bad to say because I mean, we end up winning the Superbowl. And it's, it's not what I mean, when I say that I just, you know, I knew that I wasn't physically, you know, the way that I would hope to I just had to spend a lot of time and energy on it with Alex, who I worked with, and he did an amazing job. I mean, he's just literally a miracle worker, it's hard to describe what he's capable of, you know, for someone in my 22nd year, there's no way I could achieve the success I could without having my business partner best friend, Alex, my body coach there every step of the way, treating my knee and, you know, you just we worked through literally a torn MCL to have surgery. And as soon as the season ended, I knew we were joking, Okay, last day, we're taping this,

David Novak 36:45

well, you do everything you can to possibly avoid surgery. I mean, that's, I know that for my time, TB 12. And the score we had I did there, you know, if you have any injury, you work your way you get to the Super Bowl. Now you're on this big stage where you you've been there, you've won it six times before you're going for your seventh victory, how do you go about transferring the knowledge you have on how to handle that that big stage a stage that most of the people on the team had never really been on? How did you transfer your learning to them? Or or did you?

Tom Brady 37:18

I mean, it's those games, you're gonna remember those games for the rest of your life. And, you know, all's I could talk about was my experience and not, you know, what the media would say, or what the families would say, guys is what I went through, this is how I would handle this, you know, this is, it's once the games kicked off, it's football, you know, but before the game, there's a lot more hype, but don't get caught up in the hype, you know, just we have a routine, it's worked. This isn't the time to try something new. Like, let's just, let's just go do what we're capable of doing. And, you know, the guys responded, you know, and a lot of know how to handle it. A lot of these guys are big time college players. You know, they've been in big games before. Not quite the Superbowl big. But, you know, there's a lot of big games where a lot of people are watching, and I'm just proud of the way that everybody rose to the challenge Leonard Fournette Chris Godwin, Scotty Miller, Antonio Gronk can break the line. The defensive players Levante David one of the all time great linebackers, NFL history, and dama. can sue and Jason Pierre Paul and Devin Wait, I mean, we got a group of guys that are chilled these guys,

David Novak 38:27

don't you? Yeah, they're just just the way you talk about it. It's like, they have to feel that love

Tom Brady 38:33

their studs, man. They just know how to get it done. And they're just, they're warriors. And I just I'd see what they go through every day. I see the commitment it takes for them. And they're just amazing guys, amazing players. And now it's about what we can accomplish this year. What's what's happened is great. Nobody could take it away from us. No one's taken that ring away, or that banner, but we got a different goal and mission this year. And

David Novak 38:57

I could tell even in this conversation, you're getting tired of the asking questions about last year, you're ready to get off of it. Yeah. That's yesterday's newspaper. But I'm going to ask you one more and then we'll we'll move on to babies. A little some other stuff here. But as leaders, we always have competition. And you mentioned stunts. Okay. The stunts on your team, you know? Well, there's always a young gun, you know, and everyone talked about the Brady mahomes matchup, you know, how did you think going? How did you think about going head to head with him? Did that affect your mindset in any way?

Tom Brady 39:33

He's obviously a stud and I really love his style of play. He is as talented as a quarterback as there is in the NFL right now in terms of his ability to make plays, get the ball down the field, and he does it with his feet. He's a really good leader. Great creativity. I think that's what people appreciate a lot from him his creativity, but just so talented, and I had played him before I played teams, you know, at the Chiefs when I was at the Patriots, you're not going to beat him, you know, scoring seven points, you just, you got to go in there and you got to have no fear. And when you play great players, that sense of being a lot like, look, I played Peyton Manning for a long time, there was nobody who could dominate the game like Peyton Manning. I mean, he was phenomenal. And Aaron Rodgers is another one. So I played the best along for a long time. And I love going against those guys, because it brings out the best in you as well.

David Novak 40:33

You get this decisive win in the Super Bowl, you proved to the world you can you can do it in a new venue. You do it without Bill Belichick and everybody has their own rumors and wondering about how well you get along with him? And how much do you enjoy, you know, showing the world that you didn't need him? Et cetera, et cetera? How do you really feel about that subject? I mean, you know, let's get rid of all the BS, how do you really feel?

Tom Brady 41:02

I mean, I just, it's I went on a different journey. That's how I looked at it. Now. Nothing I've done, takes away from what we accomplished. It was magical 20 years, and I left it on the best terms. And I think it was just a new journey for me, and the journey I'm on, I don't really care what happens with anyone else. I don't care what happens with any other team. I don't care what happens with any other coach, any other organization, I care what's going on with what I'm trying to accomplish. So again, it was not about the Patriots, there was no concern, you know, how they were doing to me, not in a bad way, just in a way that whether they were successful or not, I wanted to be successful. Because this is where I was putting my time and energy. And I was going to be the best I could be for my, for my team. And that's where my energy was focused.

David Novak 41:55

Well, there you go. There we have it right there straight from the horse's mouth. That is the answer. Okay. So don't ask him that anymore.

Tom Brady 42:03

You know, and just, you know, look, I, I was so grateful for my experience there. I think just one thing that's really important for me to say is, I had 20 years of great memories and relationships, and I certainly couldn't be the player I am without all of the people that impacted my life from that organization. I was just very grateful to be in this magical place with great people, great coaches, obviously, Coach Bella check. Mr. Kraft was a great mentor for me, and along with amazing players that, you know, accomplished so many things together. So I learned a lot from them, they learned a lot from me, and I was able to go somewhere else and impart different wisdom and impart different skill sets and and just so happy we accomplished what we did last year, but that was totally separate from what I had done previously.

David Novak 42:56

A great example of a win win and another one you know, which is fantastic. You don't and Tom I remember when we first met I told you I couldn't stand you, you know, I mean, I couldn't stand to Pedro stand for God. I really you know, I just you know, and because the Patriots were kind of like the Yankees most people and I'm from Louisville, Kentucky most people outside of New England you know, you know basically hated them and that had to rub off on you and and I remember sending you a note after the Superbowl one of the things I love last year is I felt like people really got to see the great guy all of your friends know that you are because you were in a new setting you got out of that setting where you are no longer the villain the villain of Spain patriot. Do you think that broadened your appeal?

Tom Brady 43:41

Um, I definitely sensed there's a little litmus test you know for when I travel around and so forth and I'm in all parts of the country and you know just how people react I would say was it was definitely different. I mean, I when I look at it from a real perspective you know if Tom Brady's always part of this team the Patriots and every time the Patriots win I mean it's aggravating I believe and you know, so for me to go somewhere else was maybe less aggravating

David Novak 44:14

that's a good point. You know, Tom I like everybody else so you had a lot of followers on Instagram and you seem to be having a lot of fun with yourself these days you know making fun of of your speed by in the Madden game you know, running a slow 40 yard dash if you haven't seen this everybody go on Instagram. It's really fun to watch all this that you know, watching you throw the Super Bowl trophy from one boat to another boat. You don't so your your it looks like you're taking yourself less seriously. Are you having fun with yourself or whatever? Not that you ever took yourself too seriously. But is there any strategy behind this or was it just you just having fun with social media? Yeah, I

Tom Brady 44:52

think it's probably more natural for me to be more open than you know. I think you know, I got into a rhythm of life that was probably a little more robotic, you know, and I think more, my voice is different because you know, my situation is different. Again, I'm living in a totally different place with no experiences and, you know, different parts of my personality come out. So just the setting is different. And I think that really has allowed for people to see more of a 360 of me. We like to have a lot of fun. I laugh a lot. You know, I really believe that being positive and finding the learnings and the bright spots and things is really important for me in life.

David Novak 45:32

Well, this has been a lot of fun. Tom, I want to begin to wrap this up with a Rapid Round of q&a Lightning round here. Are you ready for it?

Tom Brady 45:40

Great. I'm ready.

David Novak 45:41

Okay. All right. What's the one word that describes Tom Brady as a patriot? And the one word that describes Tom Brady as a Buccaneer

Tom Brady 45:53

I'd say as a patriot it was discipline. And as a Buccaneer, authentic,

David Novak 45:59

I understand that one of the things that you love is you love watches, okay. So what you collect watches, so what, what's your favorite watch and why?

Tom Brady 46:10

My wife bought me this IWC Portugieser for my 30th birthday, which was 14 years ago. And I wear it to all my special occasions. So I love the brand and I love her.

David Novak 46:27

Your favorite song for getting fired up to play?

Tom Brady 46:31

There's a great rapper Jay Z, who, who really always gets me hyped up. There's a song that's called the Public Service Announcement. So it's a pretty cool every time I hear it, I get fired up.

David Novak 46:45

I think I'm gonna listen to it right after this conversation,

Tom Brady 46:48

maybe some of your golf tournaments you just put your little air pods and walk in and get rockin

David Novak 46:54

Stretton in there. That'd be great. Your favorite social media platform? Why?

Tom Brady 46:59

Probably Instagram just because I liked the visual aspect. Twitter I like it's it's just, there's less emotion. You know, pictures are worth 1000 words.

David Novak 47:10

And favorite book or podcast you've learned from the past couple of months?

Tom Brady 47:15

Um, you know which podcast I love the most. So you know this one? What book? Good question. I've been in my playbook a lot lately. So probably the one that I've been focused on?

David Novak 47:32

Yes, no. Do you think you can play till 50?

Tom Brady 47:36

I definitely think I can play all 50

David Novak 47:38

Wow. So now, Tom, you've got this whole set of challenges that comes with sustaining success and a new team and you're actually the favorite to win the Super Bowl you've already talked about just can't wait to get going? What's your message to your team now? And and what's the message you're giving yourself?

Tom Brady 47:57

I think we're you know, it's an it's going to be a new set of challenges. So I don't know what's going to come up. I don't know what adversities we're going to face it, there's going to be a lot that we don't know about, there's going to be, again, 1000 things that come up, I want us to be ready to face those, whatever they may be. So I don't really care what what comes up. I'm not going to make excuses for anything, I'm going to attack each day with the right process with the right emotional state of mind and try to be as close to perfect as possible. And, you know, understanding I probably will never be that way.

David Novak 48:34

You don't I know, Tom, you're an avid golfer. So I have to ask you this one. You know, as a business leader, I hopefully I knew my stuff. And I could operate pretty freely. But I have a challenge bringing that same freedom to golf. You know, can you play freely in golf, like you do in football? And how do you manage the high expectations you have, that you obviously are able to deliver in your business world when you tee it up and golf.

Tom Brady 49:03

Golf is a very obviously, as we know humbling sport, it's it's very imperfect. I think what I'm trying to do with golf is just enjoy being out there more and less about scores and more about, you know, did I have fun with the experience? So I I played more golf this offseason than I have in the past, just because it's been more accessible. And I'm trying to use it as a time to decompress as opposed to you know, find my competitive spirit. I feel like I have enough competitive drive. And yeah, there's definitely moments where I play in these tournaments that I get pissed off, that competitiveness takes over but for golf in and of itself, I want to go out there and just enjoy it. So

David Novak 49:48

can you tell us a little bit about your new weekly radio show you're going to host with Larry Fitzgerald this season. And you know, I'm kind of hoping that you guys bring me on as a guest and so you know, asked me to podcast questions, I love it. That's

Tom Brady 50:02

a good, that's a great idea. That will be fun. Yeah, it's once a week, it's on Sirius Radio. It's a great platform, they got obviously a ton of listeners. And, again, I want it to be really focused on empowering people to be the best they can be. And I know there'll be a lot of sports centric fans. And I think Larry and I will try to bring our learnings of the sports to the masses and see how people can apply some of those winning strategies in their life.

David Novak 50:28

I love that. And that's what the world needs, you know, and you got a lot of things happening now, your future seems really bright. But you know, speaking of the future, my friend Steven Covey talks about living life in Cricinfo where your best work is still ahead of you. You know, you've had an incredible career. And I saw were on HBO show the shop, you basically said that you're you admitted that you're near the end of the playing time in the NFL, although you think he can play to 50? And I hope you do. If you want, how are you thinking about life and work around the corner? We just talked about this radio show you have, you're going to have all kinds of possibilities. How do you think about?

Tom Brady 51:10

Yeah, I have different business opportunities. And I think when I'm really focused on those things, they're going to be, you know, just being able to impact people. And hopefully, people can see me and go, Wow, I really like Tom's done things. I think he's got some credibility in these areas. And, you know, I'm going to help support him and try to make some contributions to, to people beyond, you know, throwing footballs, and I look forward to doing it, I, I really still look forward to throwing footballs. But when that's come and gone, I'll look forward to trying to do other things that can have a similar positive impact.

David Novak 51:45

Well, let me tell you something, Tom, we all love how you're doing things. We all love, the impact you're having on this world. And I can't tell you how much I appreciate you joining me in my quest to really try to help make the world a better place by developing better leaders by sharing your insights. So thank you very much.

Tom Brady 52:04

Yeah, happy to do it, obviously. And, again, glad we could do this and fingers are crossed that it leads to something pretty successful, you're down the road,

David Novak 52:12

I can't wait for the podcast number four. Thank you very much, buddy.

Tom Brady 52:18

Thank you. Bye, David.

David Novak 52:28

Well, every time I talk to Tom, I'm so inspired by his leadership, jumping into a new situation like that, proving himself all over again, with a new group of people, that takes so much courage. It also takes a lot of energy to establish trust and build relationships, when you find yourself in a new role. And you know, Tom has a great process for doing it. You probably remember his little acronym, he calls it the CCC model, which is basically you want to be clear and how you communicate with people. You want to be current so that you really have the facts and understand what the reality is. And then you want to communicate quickly so that that communication is out there and people know where you're coming from clear, current, communicate quickly. That's a Si Si Si model. With that kind of process, Tom quickly build strong bonds with his teammates, and coaches, those kinds of relationships are key, if you want to go after big goals and bounce back from defeats. So let's move on. It's time for me to give you a little coaching this week, as part of your weekly personal development plan. I want you to get a sticky note and just write CCC on it. Stick that up on your desk or on your computer and let it be a reminder of how you want to communicate this week. It'll just be a friendly cue that yeah, you need to clear up that misunderstanding or get more information so you know the reality of a situation or realize you need to speak up about your own expectations. You get the idea. This is something that you can use to help you throughout the week. And hopefully from now on. When we do all those things. It creates trust and openness in our relationships. And when you've got that as the leader, believe me, you are unstoppable. So do you want to know how leaders lead what we learned today is the great leaders build strong relationships with clear communication. Thanks again for tuning in to another episode of how leaders lead where every Thursday you get to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world. I make it a point to give you something simple on each episode that you can apply to your business so that you will become the best leader you can be

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