Three months ago, Tom Brady led the New England Patriots to a 13-3 victory in Super Bowl 53. His team’s opponent that day were the Los Angeles Rams, so you would not necessarily expect him to get a particularly warm welcome when visiting Southern California these days. However, Brady is an icon whose appeal to fans extends far beyond New England — and yesterday’s appearance on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live shows it.
Brady was greeted with a standing ovation when entering the studio, before talking to the host about a wide variety of topics:
- On his offseason workouts at UCLA: “I feel like I always want to be ready to go. [...] If you ride that rollercoaster it’s tough. As an athlete, this is your profession; we all work hard, we want to stay on top of our game. I think that’s a year-long commitment.”
- On whether he tries to improve or maintain his level: “I think definitely try to improve. I feel like after all these years, there’s a certain feeling you get when you throw that perfect pass. I’m sure that’s like that in a lot of other careers, but when you’re really on and you’re nailing it, you just want to repeat it.”
- On throwing perfect passes: “Not that many, surprisingly, I’d say like ten [out of 100 in-game]. You complete a lot because they’ve got arms and they can extend them and catch, but it’s tough to hit a stationary target that many times.”
- On his will to keep winning: “I think as a competitor, you get to line up and you get to go after it again. [Q: Do you want to keep winning every single time?] Dammit I want to win!”
- On not being the highest paid player in the NFL: “I think the thing I always felt for me in my life: winning has been a priority. And my wife makes a lot of money.”
Brady also participated in a skit involving frequent guest of the show/Patriots fan Matt Damon:
Accidentally broke some loser's window with @TomBrady... #MattDamon @IamGuillermo pic.twitter.com/mt5xwiKJd9
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) May 3, 2019