Tom Brady On Galloping Speed: 'At Least I Haven't Slowed Down'
BOSTON (CBS) -- Usain Bolt has never lost a night of sleep while worrying that Tom Brady might set a new record in the 200-meter sprint.
The Hall of Fame quarterback has always been quick to admit that the ground game never really has been the place where he's been most dangerous on a football field.
"If [I'm running] to move to throw, I think that's always a good thing, because we'll probably gain more yards than it would be if I start running," the 38-year-old Brady said Thursday at Gillette Stadium. "But if I have to run, I think that could be a pretty frustrating thing for a defense, because they're going, 'How could I let this guy run? I mean, of all the things -- this guy?"
Brady had been asked about his running style because Julian Edelman remarked after Saturday's win that Brady looked like a Clydesdale when scampering toward the pylon against the Chiefs. The quarterback noted that while he may not be fast, speed is not exactly something he's lost over the years.
"I probably looked like a Clydesdale when I was running at the combine video, whatever, 16 years ago, too," Brady said. "At least I haven't slowed down. At least I've maintained it. Hopefully, I've improved it a little bit."
Brady was, of course, referencing the famous video of his 40-yard dash at the NFL Draft Combine in 2000, when he looked ... not very athletic.
Yet Brady has worked hard late in his career to add some elusiveness to his game. He's always moved well in the pocket, but over the past two years in particular he's made great strides in being able to sprint to either side of the field to avoid pass rushers and deliver passes downfield.
"It's definitely something that I've worked a lot at the last couple of years, because there was a point where I felt like that was becoming a real problem for me as a player, not being able to extend anything," Brady said. "So I think that's been a big point of emphasis the last two or three years, is how to buy everybody more time. I think we've done a better job of that in the last couple of years than I did maybe four or five years ago."