MUNICH — Tom Brady got a full dose of Germany on Friday when he was presented with Bavarian lederhosen before being questioned about his personal life.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback responded that he doesn’t feel remorse returning for another season.
“Zero, no, definitely not,” Brady told a crowded news conference at a Bayern Munich facility ahead of Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks. “I think I returned because I felt like I wanted to compete. I spoke to the team about it, and they were excited to have me back.”
Brady and Gisele Bündchen recently announced that their divorce is finalized.
Brady was asked by a German reporter about on and off-field challenges and whether he felt remorse about unretiring.
“I don’t really regret those types of things,” the seven-time Super Bowl champion said. “I think when I commit to it, I mean it and I do my best and try to give everything I can to this particular opportunity.”
Another local reporter asked about how he copes with personal and professional challenges.
“You do the best you can do every day and, yeah, that’s what I’ve been trying to do, be the best I can be for my family and for my teammates,” the 45-year-old said. “We all have our challenges. Life is challenging for everybody. We just do our best.”
Brady later explained that he loves the daily routine of the job, as well as the victories like the 16-13 comeback win over the Los Angeles Rams last week. He’s been able to play so long, he said, “because it’s never really felt like work.”
“It’s hard for me to believe I’m still playing at this age, but I enjoy it and I love competing,” Brady said. “Certainly, games like last week are reasons why we do do it because there’s a thrill of victory that is hard to probably replicate at home on Xbox or something like that.”
Coach Todd Bowles spoke before Brady and marveled at the size of the crowd: “I’m sure they didn’t come to see me.”
He was right.
Early in Brady’s session, an editor from German broadcaster ProSieben surprised the quarterback — and everyone else — when he rose from the front row to present Brady with lederhosen.
“That looks nice,” a gracious Brady said to Robert Salkowsky, who explained that it was specially made for Brady with Bucs and TB12 logos.
“We are very proud to have you here in Munich and want you always to have good memories when you think back to Munich,” Salkowsky said.
Brady held up the lederhosen — shorts with suspenders — and said “How would that look going out to the game in that?”
As a team assistant took it away, Brady cracked about one of his backup quarterbacks, “Kyle Trask is going to wear that out there.”
MORE MOMENTUM
The Bucs’ offense has struggled all season, so Brady is hoping they can start to build some momentum.
“This is a very important game for us. We have a bye week after this. It gives you a chance to kind of evaluate where you are at, and I’d much rather evaluate being 5-5 than 4-6,” he said. “We’ve got to win this game and it will take care of that, but Seattle is going to challenge us. They’re creating a lot of sacks and turnovers.”
The Seahawks (6-3) arrived in Bavaria on a four-game winning streak and atop the NFC West.
Brady is 3-0 in international games, having led the New England Patriots to victories in London (2009, ’12) and Mexico City (2017). He threw for 300-plus yards each time, compiling 10 TD passes.
“Playing well is playing well, it doesn’t matter where you’re at and which stadium, what country,” he said. “For us, it’s going to come down to how well we do our job.”
SPECIAL VISIT
Bayern Munich’s coach and some players met up with the Seahawks at Friday’s practice on the soccer club’s first-team campus.
Speedy winger/left-back Alphonso Davies apparently mentioned he’s faster than Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf but all of Canada will be pleased that they didn’t line up and race. Davies is recovering from a hamstring strain and hopes to be fully fit for the World Cup.
The coaches exchanged jerseys — Pete Carroll gave Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann a Seahawks’ No. 12 shirt.
