New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was asked on Wednesday if he intentionally ignored rookie Jimmy Garoppolo when Garoppolo came off the field against the Kansas City Chiefs after completing 6-of-7 passes and throwing a touchdown pass to Rob Gronkowski. In typical Patriot Way fashion, he didn’t really answer the question.
Instead, Brady insisted during his weekly appearance on WEEI Radio that he was “happy” for Garoppolo and wasn’t really paying attention to anything else.
“I’m really not [aware of the cameras],” Brady said, as transcribed by ESPNBoston.com. “When we lose there’s really not a lot — even when we win, I think it’s just important to not ride the roller coaster of emotions. You have to believe in your process. You have to believe in the things that you are doing to help the team win. I think you have to take the good with the bad.
“I was happy for Jimmy. I was happy for our team. We kept fighting at the end. That’s a good thing. The more good players we have, the better we will be as a team. So, I didn’t pay attention to any of those things. I was obviously disappointed that the outcome of the game was what it was. It’s been very frustrating all season the way that we have performed offensively. But we are trying to figure it out to become a better offense.”
[Also see: Jay Glazer rips Donovan McNabb for his thoughts on Tom Brady]
Ben Volin of the Boston Globe reported after Monday’s game that Brady handed out a few halfhearted high-fives to other teammates but appeared to steer clear of Garoppolo. Was that intentional? Probably not.
No matter what people want to tell you about Brady going soft since he married Gisele Bundchen, the guy is an intense competitor. Maybe he was giving Garoppolo the rookie treatment to send a message that he hasn’t earned anything yet. Or maybe he was just furious his team got embarrassed in a primetime game and wasn’t paying attention. Or, like we said before, perhaps Brady is angry Garoppolo has already stolen this crown from him.
