(USA TODAY Sports) — One of the top story lines in the NFL this season is how the New England Patriots will move on after reports of discord among key figures last season and how long quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick will remain with the franchise.
In the epilogue episode of the docuseries Tom vs. Time, which was posted to Facebook Tuesday evening, Brady reflected on how he handled the reports of friction.
“If I'm going to do something at this point, it's going to be because I enjoy it,” Brady said in a narration in the episode. “The last couple years, a lot of parts about football weren't enjoyable when they should have been. Some of it was my approach. And you know, I think any time you are together with people for a long period of time, relationships ebb and flow.
“And I think people are just looking for something to write and talk about. They want to talk about a lot of drama. I'm sure a lot of teams have things like that, but ours is just to the 10th degree. I'm learning to deal with it better. I don't still give a (expletive) that much any more about anything. I think a lot of keeping things in perspective, like nothing is that big a deal to me anymore. And maybe I'm just caring about certain things that really matter, like my family, like people's health, like life and death. To worry about a lot of (expletive) that people may say or think or feel, like, I really don't care anymore."
Brady, who turned 41 on Aug. 3 and is set to enter his 19th year in the NFL, is coming off his third MVP season in which he completed 66.3 % of his passes for 4,577 yards, and added 32 touchdowns with eight interceptions. He fell short of winning his sixth Super Bowl title, however, when the Philadelphia Eagles toppled the Patriots in February.
Despite his age, however, Brady reiterated in the episode his desire to play five more seasons.
“I would love to play five more years,” Brady said. “I would love to play 41, 42, 43, 44, 45. It will be a challenge for me. I don’t think it’s going to be easy. It’s (expletive) going to be hard to do. I think it’s going to be very hard to do. But I think I can do it.”
In early August, reports surfaced that the Patriots had restructured Brady’s contract to make it richer with performance incentives. He is signed through two more seasons.
Brady skipped all of New England’s voluntary offseason workouts, citing a desire to spend more time with his family, something which he reflected on in the epilogue of his docuseries.
“Once you stop, you’re done,” Brady said. “And I think I’m not ready to say that I’m done, because I don’t feel like I am. I still feel like there’s things to accomplish. It would be like getting close to the top of the mountain and going, ‘Ah, it’s good. I’m good.’ No. You worked really hard to get to this point. Why not finish it off?
“Look at my career from, I don’t know, 30, 32, 33 on. A lot of players retire at 33. You look at football, 10-year career, that’s an amazing career. I mean, I think the last eight years of my career have been better than the first 10. So I should just prolong it. And that’s why I’m trying to do.”
