What Tom Brady Said On Friday: 'Focusing On The Positive'
BOSTON (CBS) -- Tom Brady broke his media silence on Friday, addressing his decision to drop his DeflateGate appeal for the first time since he made the announcement three weeks ago.
Brady, who previously spoke at Kevin Faulk's Patriots Hall of Fame induction on Monday, fielded questions from reporters after a training camp intrasquad scrimmage at Gillette Stadium, touching on a number of topics while stiff-arming a few others.
Here's the full transcript of Brady's five-minute Q&A session at Gillette:
Question: What went into the final decision to step down from the legal process?
Tom Brady: It was just a personal decision. I try to come out here and just focus on what I need to do to get better and help our team, and like I said, I'll be excited to be back when I'm back. I'll be cheering our team on and hope we go out and win every game.
Q: Have you thought of how excruciating those four games will be or are you just trying to keep that out of your mind?
Brady: I've tried to just be as positive as I can be. I think that's kind of always been my motto. I know over the course of my career, I've been faced with different things and I've tried to overcome them the best way I could or the best way I knew how. I'll try to do the same thing. I just want our team to go out there and play really well. I think we've had really good competition, trying to push each other so that we're ready to go. It's tough competition, the NFL. Every team is working real hard this time of year and we can't take any days off. We have to go out there and try to work on something every day. Everyone has to be ready to go.
Q: How difficult was the decision for you to make?
Brady: I think it's just personal. I've tried to move on from it. I try to just, like I said, focus on the positive, being here with my teammates and getting better. You don't want to go out and do anything but try to be a great example for your teammates. We've got a lot of competitive guys that have been out here on the practice field and I think that's where the focus needs to be.
Q: How much did you rely on your family to get through the whole ordeal?
Brady: My family's been everything to me, and obviously, the support of my teammates and coaches, Mr. Kraft and Jonathan [Kraft], the whole team and all of our fans. I said the other night, I think we've got the best fans in the world, and we do. Hopefully we give them a lot of reasons to cheer this year.
Q: Is there some anger towards the situation still or do you have to just put it behind you?
Brady: I always approach it, I have a job to do, and I try to approach it the best way I can. I've always tried to do things the same way. Every day is important to me, certainly as someone who's been around here for a long time, I know I have to bring it every day. I think I just try to go out there and lead by example, try to bring it and show my teammates that I'm ready to bring it mentally and physically every day.
Q: How is going to feel a few weeks from now when you're not able to be out there with the team?
Brady: I'll deal with that when it comes. I could have a plan and then change the plan, I really don't know. I'm really focusing on every day and trying to get better. One of my coaches said, 'Look, you've just got to get better every day,' and that's where my focus has been. These days are important for me, they're important for every guy on this team to get better and make the improvements. Collectively, it's a long season. We've got a good, competitive team. Like I said, I'm just going to be rooting for us to win every game that we're playing that I'm not in, and certainly when I'm in I hope we win every game, too.
Q: How much have the events of the last month or so factored into your level of competitiveness during camp?
Brady: I'm pretty much the same. I've been that same way for a long time. I think it's just a way to elevate everybody's game. It's a very competitive team, it's a competitive sport. You've got to bring it mentally every day. You've got to have an attitude about you. We have a lot of guys on this team that bring that. Trying to push their buttons, I love to do that, and they push it back. I think that gets the best out of everybody.
Q: Have you changed your approach to this training camp knowing you have a couple of months until you play a meaningful football game?
Brady: Honestly, I'm just trying to be as good as I can be every day. I think making improvements in certain areas; we've tried to make them. We changed our offense; we've had a lot of, kind of new players on the team, and just have been trying to incorporate them, so I feel like we're building towards something. We've got a lot of meaningful preseason games coming up that we have to see some improvements in and we've got a lot of practices left. It's a long season so it's just going to be a lot of hard work, a lot of discipline and effort. Like I said, I'm going to go out and do the best I can do in whatever role that I'm asked.