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September 13, 2006

Tom Brady says goodbye to D.Branch

Tom Brady just finished his weekly press briefing and the topic of the day was clearly the trade of Deion Branch. Brady and Branch grew very close over the last few years, both on and off the field. He clearly was pulling for the team to sign Branch and said throughout training camp that he felt the two sides would come to an agreement.
Here are some of Brady's words on the subject

Asked if he was `happy' that the stalemate has been resolved, he said, “I don’t think happy is the word, but at the same time, that’s what I’m dealing with and I’m ready to move on. Certainly those thoughts of mine are in the past. I appreciate everything that Deion and I have done together and what Deion has done for this team, but part of what I’m here to do is to lead this team and to do the best job I can do. That’s dealing with the guys that are here who are working hard to help us improve. I think as we saw, last week wasn’t our best effort. I take a lot of responsibility there and I realize that I have to do a better job, as quarterback, as a leader, as a captain, to get us to play better football.”
Brady said his play in last week's win over Buffalo was effected by Branch's situation.
``I think everybody would have wanted Deion here, certainly myself knowing what kind of person and player he is,'' he said. ``But as coach kind of said to us, 'it didn't work out.' I think I speak for myself and I'm a very emotional person and over the last four or five months, it's been draining. In a sense, I think I learned a valuable lesson last week. When something is really out of your control, you can't let it drain you. At least I feel like now I can move on and I know he's moved on. I wish him luck. This team now has to really look forward, and with the guys we have do the best we can."

``He meant a lot to me as a person and as a player he meant a lot to this organization,'' he said. ``Last week, I spent a lot of energy thinking about it. You look at the end of the week, it really wasted a lot of my time and a lot of my energy. It was a big mental drain and I think it affected the way I played. I just didn’t feel like I brought as much to the table as I normally could. That’s why I’m excited about this week – hey, I learned a good lesson, I’m going to go out there and try to do the best I can do.”

Asked where he thoughts things broke down in the talks, Brady answered, ``I have no idea. I wasn’t privy to a lot of the things that went on. I knew some of the things. Like I said, there is give and take from both sides. I do know that in any negotiation some people have to give, some people have to take. Who is pointing fingers, I don’t know. Like I said, I wasn’t that involved. I’ve been in those situations that Deion is in, I know where the club stands, but who’s fault it is, I don't know. It’s done. We have to move on and go out there and try to beat the Jets.”

KEVIN McNAMARA

Posted by Kevin  at 12:51 PM | Permalink

Comments

Posted by: Dave at September 13, 2006 2:33 PM