Tom Brady On His Return From Deflategate: ‘I Was There To Whoop Some Ass’

Tom Brady made his return to Foxborough this week as a broadcaster, and the trip had him looking back at his return from his first and only suspension in his 23-year career. The Patriots legend sat down with former teammates Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski on “Gronk & Jules” and revisited his first game back from the four-game Deflategate suspension in 2016, a Week 5 rout of the Cleveland Browns. Edelman asked Brady what his mindset was heading into that game. Brady threw for 406 yards and three touchdowns in the 33-13 win, connecting with Chris Hogan on a 63-yard gain among five completions of 30-plus yards. “I was there to whoop some ass,” Brady said. “I took that whole trip. I actually had a great September because I went out to Pebble Beach to see my parents, which was great. I went back to my alma mater, Michigan, to see a game with my son Jack, and then I went to Italy with my wife at the time. I really took advantage of September. I haven’t had a September off since before I started playing, since elementary school.” Gronkowski recalled watching the Hogan throw from the field as a blocker. “You threw that bomb to Hogan on the sideline, and the referee came right by me,” Gronkowski said. “We both said to each other, this guy’s incredible. He just comes back and is already dropping bombs.” Edelman pressed further, asking where that motivation came from given Brady’s standing in the league by the time Edelman joined the team. “You would go to the facility and see Tom Brady there working with a quarterback coach, having this guy over here,” Edelman said. “Where does this motivation come from?” Brady said the chip on the shoulder that fueled that stretch never really went away, even after three Super Bowl titles. “We all had a chip on our shoulder. We weren’t the prodigies, and we found something we loved to do,” Brady said. “I was obsessed with playing football, and I wanted to be a little bit better in every area as my career went on. That didn’t stop if we won a Super Bowl. It was every year: how can I make sure I don’t let my teammates down?” Brady said that mindset, proving something to himself first, is what carried him through those four missed games and back onto the field in Cleveland. “Every time you take the field as a competitor, you got something to prove,” Brady said. “Mostly, you’ve got to prove it to yourself. What am I capable of doing, and what are my teammates counting on me to do? And then how do I go achieve it, and how do I got to be the best I could be for them.”