WALTHAM, Mass. – The return of Tom Brady to the Patriots was must-see TV for many throughout New England and the Celtics were no exception.
Celtics forward Jae Crowder had a chance to spend some time with Brady this summer when both were part of the Celtics’ recruiting pitch to Kevin Durant at the Hamptons.
Like most folks around here, he was pleased to see Brady back on the field following a four-game suspension handed down by the NFL.
Brady gave his fans plenty to cheer about in leading New England to a 33-13 win at Cleveland. He was 28-for-40 passing for 406 yards and three touchdowns.
“I’m happy he had a great game,” Crowder said prior to the Celtics’ practice on Monday. “Those guys needed that win to bounce back from last week. So I’m happy for him.”
Despite the long layoff, Brady showed little if any rust from the long layoff.
“It’s just him always being ready,” said Crowder, a former quarterback, who was recently inducted into his high school’s athletics Hall of Fame for football and basketball. “He’s a veteran. He knows exactly what to do. That’s the type of guy [he is]; he doesn’t need that many reps in practice.”
Boston Celtics
Celtics coach Brad Stevens said he had the Patriots game on TV, but at that time he was reviewing video from Boston’s 104-86 preseason win over Charlotte on Saturday.
He did look up enough to see that Brady was having an impressive game.
“He’s great,” Stevens said. “It’s unbelievable what he’s able to do. To be able to not play the first four weeks and be that sharp, that’s pretty impressive.”
It’s clear that during the time away from the game, Brady did all the little things in that downtime to best prepare him to return to the field and not miss a beat.
“All the truly great ones are that way,” Stevens said. “That’s something they all talk about. When you really go through and you analyze the greats in football, the greats in basketball, I’m sure the greats in baseball, they all have a routine. They all have a deliberate work ethic about them and they’re all completely and totally committed to it. They realize it doesn’t stop when they leave the court. That’s really important thing to know.”