Tom Brady on WEEI: praises ‘miraculous’ Gronkowski, sympathizes with Garoppolo
"That speaks to our relationship, and I feel as strongly about him as he does about me."
Less than 12 hours after losing to the Lions in Detroit, Tom Brady was back on WEEI’s “Kirk & Callahan” to discuss not only the game, but a range of topics including his tight-knit relationship with Rob Gronkowski and his reaction to Jimmy Garoppolo’s injury.
“It’s pretty poor,” Brady said about the team’s 26-10 defeat on Sunday night. “[That’s] about the only way to describe it.”
“We’re starting slow and getting behind, and turning these games into situations that [we’re] just not going to overcome them. You don’t overcome them in pro football. And we’ve found ourselves in that situation two weeks in a row.”
On Rob Gronkowski, Brady acknowledged that teams have focused on him since the start of the season.
“It’s really been three weeks in a row where he’s gotten the majority of the coverage focused on him,” said Brady. “And if I was a defensive coach, I’d be focusing my attention on him too.”
Brady was asked about the report (which Gronkowski confirmed) that he was almost traded to the Lions. Specifically, co-host Gerry Callahan asked if trading Gronkowski would’ve been a “breaking point” for Brady, who’s watched the team get rid of other top passing options over the years.
Here’s Brady’s response:
I don’t want to get into any hypotheticals and things like that. I mean I’ve played with [Gronkowski] for a long time. I think so highly of him as a player, as a person , as a friend, as a teammate, and I’m lucky to play with such a great player and someone that I just love being out there with, who’s such a great competitor. What he’s fought through over the course of his career, it’s nothing short of a miracle in a lot of ways.
And you’re right. We’ve definitely lost players, through free agency, trades, that’s part of the NFL, but I love playing with Gronk, I’m happy he’s on our team, I’m happy he’s playing for us, and I know he’s worked hard to have a great year. We’ve all got to improve, and he’s a guy that I really count on, rely on to be a great player for us week in and week out.
In a follow-up question, Callahan asked about Brady’s response to Gronkowski saying that he would only play with the Patriots quarterback (he threatened to retire if traded to the Lions).
“That speaks to our relationship, and I feel as strongly about him as he does about me,” said Brady. “I love the guy, and he’s had a big impact on my career, personally and professionally. Like I said, I’m very lucky to play with him. And we’re going to keep fighting.”
On a final note, Brady was asked if he’d seen the injury of Jimmy Garoppolo. Brady offered a sympathetic response for his former teammate.
“We have the same agent, and I saw [the injury] yesterday on the way to the game,” said Brady. “I feel terrible for him. It’s a tough injury. I feel bad for Jimmy. It’s football and things happen like that. I’ve been through an ACL and it sucks, so you hate to see people go down. He’s someone that I really like and have been friends with since the day he got here, it just sucks to have to go through that.”
