While Tom Brady did acknowledge his decision to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers through his social media accounts on Friday, he had yet to speak publicly about it. That changed Tuesday, as Brady conducted a question-and-answer session with media members via conference call. The conference call was held over the phone as a precaution against the coronavirus, and lasted a little more than 30 minutes.
"There are some really talented players here on this offense that have very unique skill sets," Brady said of the Buccaneers. "I have one ball and I have to be able to deliver that ball to the guy who can do something with it. So there's a lot of ground to make up because I haven't worked with these players and I'm going to have to learn what they do and their body language and how they like things."
"I've watched this offense over a long period of time with a lot of different quarterbacks have a lot of success," Brady said about Tampa Bay's system. "And it's a great offense for the quarterback, for the receivers, for the tight ends, for the running backs. There's been a lot of great players who have been a part of working with Coach (Bruce) Arians."
Brady also touched on the coronavirus pandemic and how it has affected his ability to get in touch with his new teammates.
"You're seeing a lot of these other leagues that are being canceled, delayed. We as football players, there are aspects of our offseason that have changed and I'm sure will change to a degree. But that doesn't stop me from figuring out what I've got to do in my professional life to still learn the things I've got to learn and train the way I need to train," Brady said.
In addition to explaining his reasoning for joining Tampa Bay, Brady was also expected to give further insight into his reasoning for leaving the New England Patriots. The Patriots drafted Brady in 2000 and the quarterback had spent all 20 of his NFL seasons in New England, playing in nine Super Bowls and winning six.
"I think Mr. Kraft has been a great influence in my life and I'm so grateful for two decades," Brady said. "It's been an amazing thing for my family and I'm sure when I'm done playing I'll look back and have a chance to really reevaluate my entire career. But at the same time, I'm excited for this opportunity that I have. I can only speak to how I feel and I wrote about that in my social media the other day. Getting to be a free agent and having the opportunity to join the Bucs was something I was really excited about and that's why we're at where we're at."
“There’s nobody who’s been a bigger fan of the New England Patriots than me. I have nothing but total respect and love and I’m so grateful to Mr. Kraft and the organization and Coach Belichick and all the coaches and obviously all my teammates," Brady said. "It’s been a lot of days responding to a lot of incredible text messages from my teammates, from former teammates, from just a lot of the great people I got to meet over the years. I have so many great relationships that will be maintained and that I think is the greatest gift that football has brought me is the relationships I’ve had with so many people I’ve worked with. So it’ll be certainly different but at the same time that’s the way life can be at times. And what won’t be different is my approach to the game, my approach to what my roles and responsibilities are and I’m going to go out and to the best I can every day to put our team in a position to win.”
Three days before announcing he would be joining the Buccaneers, Brady posted messages on his social media accounts thanking the Patriots organization and saying he would forever be a Patriot.