Tom Brady realizes how lucky he is

Tom Brady speaks to the media before the team practice. Stephan Savoia/AP

By Henry McKenna @McKennAnalysis

December 21, 2015

2 minutes to read

The holiday season seems to be softening Tom Brady.

In an interview on “The Dennis and Callahan Show,’’ the hosts asked if there was a price to pay to be the famous Patriots quarterback. Brady may have made a hefty salary and won a Super Bowl in 2015. But he also endured the scrutiny surrounding Deflategate while rumors of marital issues swirled.

And while Brady didn’t answer the question with a “yes’’ or a “no,’’ he opened up about being thankful for what he’s got. Perhaps, he’s feeling some holiday cheer

From WEEI:

“I’ve been very blessed in my life to be surrounded by people that love and support me,’’ Brady said. “I think my parents and my sisters, who have been such a big impact in my life, and now my own family, my wife and my kids, who just provide me with so much support. My friends and my teammates. I’m very blessed in my life. I don’t have many complaints. Honestly, I don’t wake up many mornings and, ‘Woe is me.’ I look around and just try to have empathy for people that are in other obviously challenging situations. Everyone goes through difficult times in their life. I think you just have to have compassion and empathy for people and the challenging things they go through.

“Fortunately, my mom and dad are two of the best people I know. Just a great example for me growing up. And I try to be the best example I can be, not only for our team or for our community that we live in, that I’ve lived in for 16 years, but for my own kids, too. Because those are the people you can have probably the most impact on are your kids, even though your kids definitely have their own personality and are going to be their own people.

“I think you just try to be the best person you can be and try to help people when you can. Like I said, I don’t have much complaining to do. You always learn lessons through all the challenging times you go through. I think that’s part of life. And I think when you look back on life some of the things that were the most challenging things end up being some of the best things that ever happened to you, because you learn the most. Personally, you also learn the most from the people that have supported you.

“I try to always focus on the positive, and try to focus on ways that I can be better as a person, as a friend, as a teammate, as a dad, as a husband. Especially this time of year, when you reflect on the holidays, all the things we have to be thankful for. I’ve been blessed to be a part of a great organization for a long time. Honestly, to play for our fans and this community, it’s been so special. The support we get is awesome. And hopefully we keep making everybody proud.’’