'Damn Right': Tom Brady's Father Says QB Feels Vindicated By Post-Patriots Success

BOSTON (CBS) -- Tom Brady's return to Foxboro is still a week and a half away. Yet considering it's perhaps the most anticipated regular-season game in NFL history, the buildup in New England has already begun.

As part of that story line, Tom Brady's father participated in an interview with longtime Patriots reporter Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston. The elder Brady was asked whether he personally feels vindicated for the way that the quarterback has succeeded -- winning a Super Bowl last year and continuing to play at a special level this year -- after the Patriots made it clear that they no longer wanted his son.

"Damn right," Brady Sr. said with a satisfied look. "Damn rights. [Bill] Belichick wanted him out the door, and last year he threw 56 touchdowns. I think that's a pretty good year."

Brady actually threw 50 touchdowns last year -- 40 in the regular season, which was his second-highest total ever, and 10 in the postseason, which tied his highest-ever playoff total. Still, the point was clear.

In a follow-up question, Brady Sr. was then asked if he believes his son feels vindicated as well.

"Damn rights," he said with the same face. "Damn rights."

Brady's unlikely to speak quite as candidly about his own mentality in his post-Patriots career, but his father has certainly enjoyed letting his own feelings be known about the way he feels regarding everything that's transpired over the past several years.

"My feeling is that Tommy is extraordinarily appreciative of everything that happened during his New England career, and he's more than happy that he's moved on, because it was pretty obvious that the Patriot regime felt that it was time for him to move on," Brady Sr. said in that same clip. "And frankly, it may well have been the perfect [time] for Belichick to move on from him. On the other hand, I think the Tampa Bay Bucs are pretty happy that the decision was made in Foxboro that they didn't want to afford him or didn't want to keep him when his last contract came up."

In the interview in Curran's podcast, Brady Sr. said he doesn't have too much Patriots memorabilia in his house anymore, with most of it having been donated. Despite that, and despite his openness about feeling vindicated, he didn't sound bitter when discussing his own feelings about returning to Gillette Stadium to watch next week's game.

"Very nostalgic," he said. "That was our home for 20 years, and, you know, the fans embraced Tommy, and the city embraced Tommy, and the team embraced Tommy for a while. And so, when he comes home, it's gonna be a real treat that he spent 20 years making his mark in Boston. We owe a lot to the Patriots, and a lot to Boston. And like every phase in life, things move on, our kids get older, our kids move on, they move out of the house, they go elsewhere. And that's kind of what it's like for Tommy right now, where he's moved elsewhere and wherever he is, we support our kids. And Tommy's no different than the rest of us."

As one might imagine, Brady Sr. is quite proud of his son, and he lets that be known as often as he can.

"He's the best son that a dad could ever have," he said in the interview. "And in that regard, I could not be prouder or happier about him. He's just a wonderful guy."

Brady and the Bucs will visit the Patriots on Sunday Night Football in Week 4. Much will be said about every possible angle in that game, but not much will carry the same weight as the words of the quarterback's own father.

In:
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• NFL
• Tom Brady
• New England Patriots