Super Bowl LII: Tom Brady lives life of cliff’s edge

A formidable competitive streak drives the New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to dizzying heights.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady throws during a practice session this week in Minneapolis

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick are playing golf at ­Pebble Beach. “On the sixth hole, it’s a big cliff,” Belichick recalled. “And he’s literally standing out there on the ledge, trying to hit the ball. The caddie is holding him so he won’t tumble 300 feet to his death in the Pacific Ocean. It’s only a golf ball, but I think that’s kind of the competitiveness of Tom. I’m sure there’s a picture of it. I’m thinking to myself, ‘What the hell are you doing?’”

Brady is 40 and refusing to act his age. He leads the Patriots against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII on Monday (AEDT). He has never represented his country because of the ­insular, America-dominated ­nature of his sport but undeniably he ranks as one of the greatest ­athletes the world has seen.

He will become the first player in NFL history to win six championship rings if he can fling the leather with sufficient composure and precision while carrying more expectation and pressure than any other player on US Bank Field.

“Football is a game of emotion,” Brady said. “I don’t think you can sleepwalk through a game. You’ll get your butt kicked. You’ve got to bring it. You’ve got to be excited. You’ve got to match energies.

“The great part of the Super Bowl is that everyone is fired up. Everyone playing it, and everyone watching it. There’s a different level of intensity that goes with this game. The hardest hits I’ve seen are in this game. You play as hard as you can and you do whatever it takes to win this game.

“You don’t have a lot of time to stand there and figure things out. Whatever you see, you’ve got to cut loose. If the defence is playing the pass, you hand it off and gain yards. If they’re tight inside, you run it outside. If they’re outside, you run it inside. If they guard you short, you throw it deep. If they’re deep, throw it short.

“It’s a game of chess. The goal is to move the ball downfield and score points. That’s it.”

Brady talked non-stop and ­enthusiastically yesterday while wearing a pair of sparkling white sandshoes that could not have been more impressive if they were Dunlop Volleys with the green and yellow stripes. A glass of water was on his table, a prudent move given he drinks eight litres of the stuff a day. He talked at length about the psychology of directing heavy traffic with split-second decisions. He talked so much and so enthusiastically about his role as ringmaster that he was hoarse by the end of it and needed another couple more bottles of water.

When it was suggested his emotion occasionally got the better of him in blazing sideline blow-ups, he nodded and replied: “I want to try to get the best out of my teammates. However, I need to challenge them — I think I’m a positive leader. I love positive ­reinforcement for the players. I think they know when I’m a little bit pissed off at things, but that’s OK. We’re all trying to get the job done the right way.

“But as a quarterback, you’re the one in the huddle. You’re the one calling players. They’re looking at you. They believe that you are the one to lead them. When you have that feeling, it’s a great feeling because they’re just looking for direction. They’re looking for direction. What play are we going to call? Any reminders for me? Where do I need to be? That’s the quarterback’s responsibility — and there’s emotion that plays a part in that.

“It ebbs and flows for me a little bit. There’s times when I need to be more composed, and times for me to be more fired-up. There’s a gauge in me that’s always trying to figure those things out. I’ll be fired up Sunday, I already know that. Hopefully I’ll have the poise and composure also needed. Emotion is not going to be a problem in this game.”

Brady exuded the calmness of a man who’s proved time and again that he can conjure a victory from a seemingly hopeless position. “There’s an approach I take that serves me well,” he said of the trademark comeback victories highlighted by last year’s Super Bowl and the AFC Championship game at his last start.

“When you’re losing late in a game, what’s the worst that can happen? You’re already losing. In some ways I’m more relaxed when we’re losing because if you don’t do anything, you already know what the outcome is going to be. I always look at a defect as a great opportunity. I think, man, if we can come back and win this, this is what people are really going to ­remember. This is what people want to see.

“I’m very comfortable if we’re behind. It’s never over until the clock runs out. You think of the experiences you’ve had and you rely on those past experiences to tell yourself that you can do it again. We can come back and score points and win any game. You don’t let your mind drift.”

Brady and the Patriots were likened by an American reporter to basketball legend Michael ­Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

“I really don’t think about those things very often. I’m still in the middle of it,” he said with a hint of embarrassment. “I always say it’s like a marathon. at mile 23 of a 26-mile marathon, you’re not thinking man, how good were those last 23 miles? You’re just thinking about getting to the ­finish. You’re just thinking about miles 24, 25 and 26. That’s how I feel. I’m definitely closer to the end of my career than the beginning, but hopefully we can go out and play our best game of the year. That’s all I’ve been thinking about this week. If you’re in a position to win you’ve got to take it because if you don’t, it’s going to be a pretty crappy Sunday.”

Brady has played seven Super Bowls, losing two of the bastards. “They’re all very unique in my own memory. The ones I lost are obviously very painful. You put a lot into it and when it doesn’t go well, you wake up the next day and you’re thinking it was a nightmare. Man, did that really ­happen? That’s what I remember of the losses. For the wins, there’s incredible joy. It’s a great accomplishment.”

Brady and the Patriots have been so successful since he joined the franchise in 2000 that most of America wants them to fall off the cliff against the Eagles.

“I know a lot of the country is probably not rooting for us but that’s OK,” Brady said. “That’s just the way sports are, and sports in our country,” Brady said before admitting to pre-match nerves and anxiety. “You’re just trying to get to the point where you’re ­emotional but focused, and really determined to do your job at the highest level. You can’t relax. You can’t take a play off. It’s pedal to the metal for 60 minutes.

“You know, I love playing this sport and I love the competition. I’ve loved competitions since I was young. To play at the highest level in the NFL, I’m never going to do anything other than try to win. I tell my team, ‘Whatever it takes. Whatever it takes.’”

Another story about Brady’s competitiveness has come from ex-Patriots safety Rodney Harrison. “When I first got to New England, we’d become friends and we were in the weight room,” Harrison told ESPN, which will broadcast Super Bowl LII from 10am on Monday. “I show up around six in the morning and he says to me, ‘Good afternoon!’ So the next day, I get the hint, and come in 15 minutes ­earlier. Same thing: He says, ‘Good afternoon!’ Then the next day it’s 5.45 in the morning, and he makes sure to say it twice: ‘Good afternoon! Good afternoon!’ So I make it at 5.30 the next day and before he could say anything to me, I looked at him and said, ‘Man, I don’t give a damn what you say, Tom, I’m not coming in earlier than 5.30!’”

Will Swanton travelled to Minneapolis courtesy of ESPN. ESPN will televise the Super Bowl live on Monday starting with SportsCenter at 9.30am (AEDT) followed by the game from 10am (AEDT).