FOXBORO – This was the first off-the-cuff media session Tom Brady’s been involved in since the Patriots maddening defeat in Super Bowl 52.
No script, no appearance fee, no solo questioner with whom Brady was comfortable, no editing rights.
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So, what did Brady do in front of this phalanx of 14 cameras and two dozen mic-wielding reporters? He clammed up.
It wasn’t the honest and introspective guy who spoke in "Tom vs. Time" about mining for purpose. It wasn’t the easy-grinning guy that parried Jim Gray’s questions at the Milken Institute.
And – unless I miss my guess – it wasn’t the charming, vulnerable, time-addled dad that Oprah undoubtedly got for her Brady doo-dad that drops on Father’s Day.
It was four minutes of a verbal Heisman after the Patriots final mini-camp practice at Gillette Stadium.
At the very least, I anticipated Brady would say that – after an unprecedented offseason sabbatical from stadium workouts – he felt completely recharged, refreshed and cleansed.
That kind of statement would have signaled that the slings and arrows he’d taken and the endless handwringing he caused (I’m down to the bone over here) had all been worth it.
Yeah, no.
Approaching gently at the start of what we were told would be a quick session, I asked if the guy on the couch in "Tom vs. Time" that seemed so conflicted was still around. Did he still feel conflicted?
“No,” he replied. “It's been just a good process for me and it's been fun to be out here with my teammates and I'm excited about the year. Every year has some different challenges and this is good. It's been a good three days and we've got to try to keep it going and be ready for camp."
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Over the next few minutes, Brady said “personal reasons” kept him from OTAs, that his relationship with Bill Belichick is and has been “great” and that he never considered retirement.
Asked about a new contract – the current one runs through 2019 – Brady said, “I've never talked about my contract. I've never brought up money, I think for a lot of reasons that I've said over the years. Those things are very personal.”
The last question Brady fielded was whether or not he’d attend the final voluntary OTAs of the offseason next week.
Brady – showing obvious parental sleight of hand – gave a “Can’t you see Daddy just got home?” kind of answer.
“We're not even through today yet,” he replied. “We've had a good three days and been working on the things we need to work on. That's what I always focus on.”
In other words, NFW. So what’s the relevance?
He missed OTAs yet looked precisely like Tom Brady through the three days of mini-camp we watched.
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And he was plenty pissed off and fed up in 2017 but won his third NFL MVP then dragged a defenseless Patriots team up and down the field in the Super Bowl, throwing for 505 yards to nearly win a third Super Bowl for the franchise in four seasons. And he did that while underpaid, too.
So what if he doesn’t pass the happy test? Or emote to our satisfaction? Or have a cathartic session with reporters like chastened Red Sox players like to do at the picnic tables in Fort Myers?
Here’s what’s relevant. For almost his entire NFL career, he – and we – have dutifully painted an idyllic scene of blood, sweat, tears and winning in Foxboro. It was hard but everybody liked it that way.
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But the past few years of Machiavellian maneuvering and palace intrigue have bubbled to the surface so completely that Brady has given up the ghost.
When it comes to this team these days, Brady’s relationship status would be listed as: “Complicated.”
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