Does Tom Brady regret coming out of retirement after the Buccaneers terrible start?
In truth, we’d probably forgive him if he admitted that he does, but to hear the Bucs star QB tell it, he’s right where he wants to be.
A lot has been said about the seven-time Super Bowl champion and his struggling team in recent weeks. Indeed, it would be easy to imagine that Tom Brady probably wishes he hadn’t returned to Tampa Bay, but to hear him tell it, that’s not the case.
Tom Brady doesn’t regret returning to the NFL
Though this is the first time in his career that he’s sitting on a 4-5 and below .500 nine weeks into the regular season, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady said on Friday that he has “zero” regrets about rejoining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after he briefly retired in spring of this year. “Zero, no. Definitely not,” Brady said. “I returned because I felt like I wanted to compete and I spoke to the team about it and they were excited to have me back. I don’t really regret those types of things - I think when I commit to it, I mean it and I do my best and try to give everything I can to this particular opportunity.”
To be fair, it’s not all gloom and doom for Brady and Co. After a dramatic comeback win against the Los Angeles Rams last week, the Bucs now have an opportunity to get to .500 if they can beat the high-flying Seattle Seahawks on Sunday in the NFL’s first international game in Germany. As is his way, Brady was open about the fact that the team has been struggling of late, as they now prepare for their all-important date with the Seahawks. “I think the frustrating part is we just haven’t played to the way we’re capable of playing - that’s for a number of different reasons,” Brady said. “This is a very important game for us - we have a bye week after this. It gives you a chance to kind of evaluate where you’re at and I’d much rather evaluate being 5-5 than being 4-6. We’ve got to just win this game and it’ll take care of that.”
How bad have the Bucs been?
Let’s lay it out for you. With an average of 18 points per game, the Bucs are currently scoring the lowest points total by any team that Brady has played for through nine games in his entire career. To put it in perspective, the fewest points scored by a Brady led offense across the first ten games of the regular season was 19.6 way back in 2003. In order for the Bucs to better that, they’re going to have to score 35 points on Sunday. Needless to say, we’re not so sure that’s going to be the case.
Interestingly, Brady spoke to the trouble in Tampa Bay earlier this week as he cited a lack of effort as one of the factors. He would later expand on that comment on Thursday saying, “What can we control? We can certainly control our attitude, our effort. I think everything has been below the line this year - we’re 4-5...I don’t think there’s any reason to be happy about anything we’ve done,” Brady said. “Obviously, we’re not playing to our standards -- we’re not there from an effort standpoint, execution standpoint, emotional standpoint. We’ve got to figure it out - this is a good place to do it.” While the former MVP’s attitude is admirable, it goes without saying that the Seahawks are going to be a complicated opponent. Now on a four-game winning streak, Seattle have surprised just about everyone with their talented group of rookies. On the other hand, Tom Brady’s record when playing outside of the U.S.A. is 3-0, so perhaps we’re about to see a turnaround in the Bucs fortunes.