Tom Brady had a lot to say when asked about Antonio Brown’s release during the quarterback’s Monday morning WEEI interview. In classic Brady fashion, though, it still isn’t clear what his feelings on Brown are.
Brady answered with a fairly deep, through rather indirect answer that lasted almost as long as Brown’s tenure with the Patriots. (Read Brady’s full response at the bottom of this story.)
The Patriots released Brown Friday after he was accused of sexually assaulting two women and sending threatening messages to one. Brown played in the Patriots’ 43-0 win over Miami Sept. 15 and caught a touchdown pass from Brady.
“There’s a lot of human elements,” Brady said. “As a player, as a person, I care deeply about my teammates. I want everyone to be the best they can possibly be.”
Brady talked about investing his head, heart and soul with the teammates he’s had over his 20 years in the league.
“So I think in the end, the endearing trait about sports for me is the relationships I get to build, because they’re very meaningful. That’s at the heart, I think, philosophically, my life”
Brady reportedly offered for Brown to stay with him as he got acclimated to New England. But Brown was hit with a civil lawsuit alleging rape the day after he signed with the team; more allegations ranging from stiffing workers to sexual harassment came out in the following days.
Brown caught four passes, including a touchdown, from Brady in their one game together.
“Again, it’s a tough life,” Brady said. “Life is not easy. Football is not easy. Evolving and growing as people is not an easy thing. I’m very different now at 22 than I am at 42. So I have a lot more perspective. Life is challenging for all of us … we all go through different aspects of our life and we try to do the best can do.
“We develop friendships and relationships, people that support us, and sports has a great way of bringing a lot of people together. I believe the more you care for people, the more you love people, the more you find joy in your life, the better our society is. The better our communities are. The better our teams are. The better our families are.
“That’s how I feel.”
Brady said a lot more than Bill Belichick did. The Patriots coach cut two press conferences short after terse exchanges with reporters eager to know more about Brown.
Brown took shots Sunday at Patriots owner Robert Kraft in now-deleted tweets, one of which said he was done with the NFL.