The mental approach that makes Tom Brady a champion was on full display on the morning after the Super Bowl, when he was already talking to a member of the Buccaneers coaching staff about what the Bucs can do to be better next year.
Buccaneers assistant Clyde Christensen told Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times that Brady called him on the morning after the Super Bowl, just hours after leaving the team’s postgame party, to talk to him about his belief that the Bucs still have room for improvement.
“He said, ‘Hey, I didn’t see you after the game. I just wanted to tell you thanks and what a great journey and how much I appreciated everything you did,’” Christensen said. “The second thing he said: ‘I was just sitting here thinking, and I think we can really be better next year. I think we’re going to be a better team.’ He was already excited about the next year. It’s amazing. That’s how his mind works.”
Christensen said Brady won’t allow the Bucs to rest on their laurels.
“He’s thinking about it the next morning,” Christensen said. “He’s barely been in a couple hours, and he’s thinking about it the next morning. The thing that happens is, teams get distracted. Everyone is trying to make a little more money. Everyone has something going. Some have got a little book deal. They’ve got radio shows going. That doesn’t happen to the Bradys or the Mannings of the world. They don’t get distracted. They don’t get off track.”
Brady turns 44 in August, and he shows no sign of changing the approach that has had him winning Super Bowls for two decades.