Recalibrating Brady admits to 'challenging' countdown

Two weeks into his first training camp as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 43-year-old Tom Brady is feeling a little like a rookie again.

After 20 seasons with the New England Patriots, the four-time Super Bowl MVP signed a two-year free-agent deal in March, so now he's in the unfamiliar position of having to learn and understand every aspect of a new offense down to the minutest detail: terminology, timing and new faces in new places.

The process also involves plenty of physical maintenance to ensure he can still perform at the highest level.

"I'm just glad we're not playing a game this Sunday. I'm glad we have time to prepare," the three-time NFL MVP said during a media conference to mark the opening of Tampa Bay's camp.

"I still have to work at it pretty hard physically; I put a lot of time and energy into making sure I'm feeling good, in order to perform at my best. But mentally, I think that's been the thing that obviously has its challenges.

"I think you couple that with the coronavirus situation and it became even more difficult, so I think conversations we probably would have had in April, we're having now and I think that part is a bit challenging too. The only thing you can do is adjust to the situation, adapt the best way you can."

With the Bucs' season-opener set for Sept 13 when they visit New Orleans to take on the Saints, Brady said time is of the essence.

"Put as much time and energy now as we can into it, and I think the reality is the clock is ticking on everybody and we're going to have to work as hard as we can and not waste any minutes of any day trying to get used to one another and embrace the challenge. We have to view it as an opportunity to see what we can become."

Arriving in a new city as the face of the franchise brings its own set of expectations, and Brady said he's anxious to prove he's up to the challenge while acknowledging the lack of on-field preparation during the pandemic has limited his progress.

"I think everyone's learning every single day a little bit more," he said of COVID-19. "I think you just take these things one day at a time. I think we've all learned a lot over the past five or six months.

"I've always felt that taking care of my body was really important. Not just for football－because it has been my job－but my quality of life in the future. You either believe what you put into your body has an effect, or that it doesn't have an effect.

"I think for me, in my experience, the better I've treated my body, the better I've eaten, the more hydrated I am, the better treatments I get, the more sophisticated my workouts have been, the better my body's performed."

Brady's first camp with the Bucs comes exactly 25 years after he was drafted 503rd overall by Major League Baseball's Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals) as a 6-foot-3 (1.92-meter) catcher at Junipero Serra high school in San Mateo, California.

One week after he was drafted, the Expos happened to be in San Francisco at Candlestick Park for a series against the Giants so they arranged for Brady to come from his nearby home to take batting practice with the club.

"I was traveling with the team and (scout) John Hughes said he was bringing in a young catching prospect," former Montreal GM Kevin Malone recalled in a recent interview with Danny Gallagher, author of a series of books about the Expos.

"We thought very highly of Tom, his stature, his poise. He was very mature for his age and presence. He had all the tools we were looking for to project him as a major-leaguer. He had the arm strength, he was a left-handed hitter with power. He had a good swing. He was cerebral and analytical."

Brady was offered a baseball contract, but turned it down because his father, Tom Sr, wanted him to go to college and get an education. So Junior enrolled at the University of Michigan, posting a 20-5 record over two seasons as the Wolverines' starting quarterback.

He was selected by the Patriots with the 199th overall pick in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft.

The rest, as they say, is history.

murraygreig@chinadaily.com.cn