Buccaneers 21, Seahawks 16
Q. We talked to a bunch of Germans today before the game and they said the support the other team but the wanted a Brady jersey because they like you so much. How was it playing in front of this crowd today from the Germans? How did you perceive the crowd? You looked really comfortable on the field despite the long flight getting here.
TOM BRADY: Yeah, that was one of the great football experiences I've ever had, so that says a lot for 23 years in the league, and for a regular season game, I think the fan turnout was incredible. It felt like a very electric from the time we took the field.
At the end of the game with them singing "Sweet Caroline" and "Country Roads," that was pretty epic. I think everyone who was a part of that experience got to have something pretty amazing memory for their life. Thank you for hosting us. We appreciate it. Thank you.
Q. Aside from the actual match, what was the most memorable moment for you coming here to Germany?
TOM BRADY: I think it's always pretty cool when the team kind of travels together and hangs out for two or three days and can really lock in on what our job is. We've got a lot of games that kind of feel like when you're in a long season, not that they feel redundant, but you've done them so many times you kind of feel the routine, and this is obviously outside of our comfort zone to a degree, and long flight, but that wasn't a big deal because it was a great flight, and we had great accommodations here.
I think everyone got a chance to see the city a little bit, but most importantly, we were here to try to play and win a football game, which I thought we did a lot of great things out there. So it wasn't perfect, but I think the best part is winning the game and feeling like we made some improvements.
We have a bye week now so we can take a little bit of time to refresh and get ready to make a big push and figure out kind of some of the things we haven't done well the first 10 weeks of the year and see how we can get better.
Q. How important was it to get the running game going, especially the job that Rachaad did?
TOM BRADY: Yeah, Rachaad did a great job, and the big guys up front played really well. This was as good an effort as we've had by that entire group. A lot of guys made plays in the pass game; Mike made them; Chris made them; Cade made them; Julio made them. So everyone did a great job kind of spreading the ball around to different people. It's what we're going to have to keep doing.
Hopefully we can keep building on it.
Q. 3rd down conversions and red zone were both really big for you guys, and those were areas you've really had to key in and focus on. What was different about those today?
TOM BRADY: Yeah, they were better. I think there's still room for improvement, obviously. The two that we had a chance on the first drive, got a holding penalty and ended up not getting the field goal, and then we had the interception, two interceptions, one with Lenny and one with me. Cut down on our turnovers, be a little better on 3rd down. Certainly if we run the ball better, I think we give ourselves a great chance to win going forward.
It makes it a lot easier for all of us when the run game does what it's doing and did what it did today, and just really proud everyone really coming together, understanding how important that was for us and figuring out a way to get a win.
Q. How many touchdown passes in your career you have received, the catch, and how close were you today?
TOM BRADY: I wasn't very close today. Unfortunately that corner is a former college receiver who jumps a lot higher than me and is much more athletic. I was hoping to be wide open, and I probably was on the first one, and I think they were pretty clued in on the second one, and they said "cover him, cover him," and I was on the sideline and tried to yell, "Lenny, no!" But it was too late, and the ball went up in the air and I was trying to just -- whatever, jump up and knock it down, but I ended up falling on my face.
Q. I was like, oh, my God --
TOM BRADY: I know, that would have been pretty fun. I think I've had a few catches. Never had a touchdown, though.
Q. On Friday you said you were going to buy a present for your daughter. What did you buy?
TOM BRADY: I'm not telling you. It's a surprise when I get home. (Laughter.) She'll be home waiting. She'll be sleeping when I get home, but I got something for her.
Q. Are there similarities on this team two years ago?
TOM BRADY: I mean, I think everyone would love to think that -- what it was like -- everything is totally different than two years ago. Just like most things in everyone's lives, everything is pretty different than a couple years ago. Every is a year is a different year, and you've got to take your strengths and weaknesses, you've got to build on them, you've got to work hard.
We have a very different group of players this year, and we're going to keep fighting hard. We are going to try to do what's right every time we take the field and try to keep going to get wins.
Q. What did you feel; were you able to enjoy the people or were you still focused for the game?
TOM BRADY: No, that was one of the great experiences I've ever had. I've played at Wembley twice. I played in Stadium Azteca in Mexico, which was another amazing experience, and this is as good as it gets.
To just travel around the world and see kind of the welcoming from even around town, there was a lot of really cool fanfare, and then driving in today it looked like there was a lot of excitement. By the time we got on the field for warmups, the stadium was basically full, and it just gets everyone hyped up, and hopefully we kind of entertained everyone. That was our goal coming out here.
Q. The future games here in Germany from the NFL, will we see you again in the next four years?
TOM BRADY: Will you see me in Germany in the next four years? Oh, man, that's a tough question. There's probably a lot of people that want to know that question. Yeah, I'm going to take this one for what it was, which was very, very special, and I don't know what the future holds.
But it was amazing, and just got to meet some of the Bayern Munich players, and just been a big fan of international soccer for a long time. I know they've got the World Cup coming up. Have a great appreciation for sports, what they do, how they bring people together, and I think this was another indication of that. It was really cool for a bunch of American kids to come over here and play in another country and kind of see -- be welcomed the way that we were, so we're very grateful. Thank you guys.
Q. Was this the major reason you didn't retire?
TOM BRADY: Number one, yes. Yeah, it wasn't probably the top reason why, but obviously this is an amazing thing that happened for our team. It's going to be a fun ride home. I don't know if we have alcohol on the plane. Not that I drink much, but it will be fun to watch all the other guys drink. I'm sure there might be a few guys looking for some beer on the way out to the airport. We'll see.
Q. Do you feel like there's been a turnaround in the season over the last five quarters?
TOM BRADY: No, I really feel like you get out of these games what you put into them, and I feel like each game is very different from week to week and what you put into the game individually is going to give you the best opportunity to succeed.
I thought we had a good week of preparation. Obviously a different week, but we prepared very well, and we were prepared to play today. We came out with a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm. We ran the ball hard, we played very tough, very physical. We covered kicks, we returned some kicks, ran the ball very well, stopped the run. Their passing game really got them back in the game. Geno played a great game, made some great fourth quarter throws. But our defense stepped up, the offense played good. It was a good team win.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports