PHOENIX -- Leftovers from news conferences with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick on Monday morning, as part of the MVP presentation:
Brady and Goodell share an embrace. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell led off the news conference with remarks on the game, before turning it over to Brady. The two shared an embrace with no signs of any potential chill in the air as it relates to the league's investigation into underinflated footballs. Then they posed for pictures together. It all seemed sincere and genuine.
Brady reflects on Butler's early days with the team. With cornerback Malcolm Butler making the game-saving interception, it had Brady reflecting to when Butler first signed with the team in May as an undrafted free agent. "We don’t put numbers on our jerseys but this one player just kept making plays and I kept going, ‘Who is that? Who’s that guy running down balls?’ He had great quickness, great speed, great jumping ability, played the ball so well, intercepting passes all season long practicing on the scout team, and got some opportunities as the season went along to play on defense. It all leads to that particular moment. You put a lot of hard work in over the course of the season and Malcolm did that. To recognize a formation, a play, put it all together in your mind as a young player, it was the perfect play at the perfect time. Obviously, none of us will ever forget that play. I’m just proud of him, proud of our team."
Belichick salutes folks in Arizona. The Patriots' overall experience here was first-rate, according to Belichick. "On behalf of the Patriots, I thank the people who have helped us so much out here in Arizona -- the Sheraton Wild Horse [Pass Resort and Spa] staff was awesome. The accommodations were great. They did a tremendous job of working with us in every single way and the people of the [Arizona] Cardinals facility, Matt Caracciolo and many others people here that have helped us so much to have a great week of preparation. It was awesome. It was a tremendous trip from that standpoint."
Super Bowl reflects the entire season. Belichick gushed about the team, saying, "All year long, this team ground it out. They’re tough physically. They’re tough mentally. They competed day after day. I can tell you that I work this team hard. I know from personal experience that this team came to work every day. They didn’t make any excuses. When things didn’t go right, they just rolled up their sleeves and got back to work and tried to fix them. It wasn’t always perfect like last night. It’s a group that never stopped competing, never stopped fighting and never stopped playing. I think last night’s game, for me, was reflective of the entire year, what I saw on a daily basis from that group of players and coaches."
Belichick says Brady competes as well as anyone. Belichick on Brady: "A lot of things have been said about him this morning and they’re all true. He’s a great player. It’s been a great privilege to coach Tom for the last 15 years, 14 years as starting quarterback. We have a great relationship. We meet on a regular basis weekly several times. I can’t think of a more deserving player than Tom to be the recipient of the accolades that he has this week, and particularly last night and today here. He’s our leader. He competes as well as any player I’ve ever coached. He’s well-prepared. He has great poise and great presence. He may not always be perfect, as it is for any of us. We all have our moments, but Tom, like many other players on our team, is the guy that fights to the end and competes until the end. There’s no player I respect more for that than Tom. That’s been a great pillar of strength for our football team for the past decade and a half. I sincerely appreciate that."
'Sometimes it just works out.' When Belichick was asked about the offseason plan to sign free-agent cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner, he began by saying, "That is a great question." He then detailed how it wasn't really any well-scripted plan because the Patriots had really been working hard to re-sign Aqib Talib. But when Denver blew Talib away with an offer, it led the Patriots to Plan B. "Sometimes things just work out. It is not always a great plan. Sometimes it is just the way things fall," he said. "Aqib is a great football player who ended up signing with Denver. Revis was available because Tampa released him. We were able to get involved in that one. We talked to Brandon and in the end we were able to work it out with both players. Sometimes those things just work out." Belichick then compared it to the receiver situation in the offseason, with the re-signing of Julian Edelman and also bringing in Brandon LaFell, as well as some of the in-season acquisitions the team made. "Those signings were, I’d say, as much as part of the players wanting to play here as much as it was us wanting the players on our team," he said. "It worked out."
