PhatzNewsRoom.com News Room and Blog

(PhatzRadio / SI) — Considering what a transcendent talent Tom Brady is, the career he’s had, and that he turns 36 in 11 weeks, this statement he made to me over the weekend is significant: “Going into my 14th year, I have never had more confidence in how I am throwing the football. I’ve never felt better throwing the football.”

It’s May. Brady has averaged 36 touchdowns, eight picks and 4,654 passing yards over his last three seasons, and he feels better about his arm and his mechanics than he ever has. Were those shudders I just felt coming out of Orchard Park, Florham Park and South Florida?

Brady doesn’t talk much in the offseason, and in the past few years he’s come out of his shell around this time to talk about his charity of choice: Best Buddies, a worldwide volunteer movement that fosters friendship between the larger society and those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and engenders employment opportunities for them. This is the 12th year he’s been the honorary chairman for the weekend event (May 31 – June 1, Best Buddies Challenge: Hyannis Port) that includes a touch football game at Harvard on Friday and 50- and 20-mile bicycle events on Saturday. The Massachusetts event raises more money in a weekend ($3 million last year) than any other Best Buddies fundraiser worldwide. “It’s one of the highlights of my year,” Brady said. “Playing football is not curing cancer, and it’s not helping people with intellectual disabilities. So when I leave Hyannis Port on Saturday afternoon, you feel like you’ve made a difference in people’s lives.”

Brady said, “Friendship and support from friends and family is so important to succeeding in life. We take friendship for granted. A lot of these kids are the ones who don’t have those friends, who get made fun of in school. It’s so important to give them a hand. I hope I can participate in this for the rest of my life — and I want my kids to participate too. Look at what Boston did a month ago, with so many stepping up after the bombing at the Marathon. So many people at this Best Buddies event step up and do something important here for these people who need their help.”

Good for him — and while we’re on the subject of good deeds in New England, here’s another one: A 33-member contingent of current and former Patriots, and coaches and staff, got on buses from Foxboro Saturday morning for the 150-mile ride to Newtown, Conn., to hold a football clinic for the kids of Newtown. Owner Robert Kraft, defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, tight end Rob Gronkowski and captains Jerod Mayo, Devin McCourty and Matthew Slater were on hand. The coaches and players ran eight stations that 400 kids rotated through, while their parents watched from the stands. When one kid asked where Brady was, Kraft got him on the phone and passed it around to several kids so they could all say they talked to Brady. A good day, and a good bit of community service by the Patriots.

Back to Brady, and his mechanics. After his throwing guru, Tom Martinez, died 15 months ago, Brady was put in touch with former major-league pitcher Tom House (who got into quarterback-tutoring through friend Cam Cameron), and House took over the fine-tuning of Brady’s throwing technique.

“I owe so much to Tom Martinez,” Brady said. “He taught me so much about how to play the game and throw the football. He was so committed to me for so many years. I miss him every time I step on the field. I found Tom House, and really developed a rapport with him quickly. I’ve learned, and to me, the learning process is fun. The same way Tom Martinez was always there to watch and give me corrections, Tom House has told me why certain corrections need to be made. Look at a baseball swing and a golf swing. It’s all mechanics. Look at how Barry Bonds swings. Look at how Floyd Mayweather punches. Mechanics. When you’ve got to fit it into the tightest windows, mechanics are crucial. And to me, the offseason is crucial. If you make a throw within four feet, that’s not going to be good enough. You have to make the throw within four inches of your target. That’s good enough. And that’s why the mechanics you adjust and learn in the offseason are important. You’re going to keep them during the season.

“Tom House, pretty soon after the season, said basically, ‘All right, Tommy. Get to work.’ That’s the one thing that helps me move forward. There’s nothing we can do about losing the championship game to the Ravens. It sucks. You move on. But, with Tom, I think I’ve learned some things this offseason that are really going to help me.”

I said, “Be specific — give me one thing, or two things you feel are going to help you this year.”

“One thing,” he said. He paused. “Well … I hate to … well done is better than well said. I’d rather not say. I want people to watch and see if they notice.

“Over the years, I was a little inefficient and I learned how to get away with it. I’ve been working with Tom House on what’s called ground-force production … Kinetic sequencing, getting the power from the ground, which translates from the ground to your legs, to your hips, to the shoulder, and all the energy is going toward the target. I’ve always had confidence throwing the football, but you have to stay on top of it. That’s going to be a never-ending quest for me.

“I’d say 98 percent of it is exactly what Tom Martinez taught me. This other 2 percent is nothing between the ears, we’re just talking about a couple of things. Coach Belichick teaches me about what to expect from defenses. [Offensive coordinator] Josh [McDaniels] is always teaching me about offensive plays and drops. I like that, just like I like this work with Tom House. Once you feel like you’re done learning, you might as well move on.”

The Patriots are 39-9 in the last three years, but they’re not measured by the regular season. They haven’t been in a long time. The measure comes in the postseason, and losses to the Jets, the Giants and the Ravens have ended their last three years in crushing ways. Brady’s doing what he can to up the ante this offseason, apparently. Is the defense doing the same? The receiver group? Belichick the drafter?

The Patriots’ three Super bowl wins were all by three points. The two Super Bowl losses were keyed by a Velcro catch by the Giants’ fifth receiver, and, in the second loss, a Wes Welker missed catch and an underthrown Brady pass that was picked off. Remember: There’s been a very fine line between Super Bowl wins and losses for New England. Without a franchise pass rusher or corner this season, the Patriots are likely to be as dependent on Brady as ever. Or more.

Speaking of 35-year-old quarterbacks …

How do you not feel sick for David Garrard?

Twenty months ago, a week before the 2011 season, Garrard was Jacksonville’s starting quarterback. Out of the blue, two hours after he was introduced at the team’s fan luncheon as the starter, then-coach Jack Del Rio called him in and cut him, preferring to go with rookie Blaine Gabbert.

Nine months ago, before the 2012 season in Miami, Garrard was leading in the quarterback derby with rookie Ryan Tannehill until the veteran QB needed arthroscopic knee surgery. Rather than wait for him to get well, Miami cut him, handing the job to Tannehill.

Last week, again looking like he had a good chance to be a starter, this time with the Jets, his balky knee kept ballooning after even slightly strenuous workouts. With a wife and three young children back home in Jacksonville, Garrard decided to stop fighting his physical shortcomings. He quit.

Three seasons, three teams, three chances to be the starter. And nothing.

“You a little heartbroken?” I asked him Saturday.

“Absolutely!” he said over the phone from Florida. “How could I not be? Talk about an emotional roller coaster in the last couple of years. I experienced the highest of highs, thinking I was going to play for all three teams. Then I was down and out.”

But Garrard was an adult about it. “You always hear, ‘Play ’til the wheels fall off,’ ” he said. “Not me. I’ve got a wife and three beautiful kids who rely on me. I want to be there for them, and as healthy as I can be. I knew if I kept trying to play, it wouldn’t end well. I knew it was going to come to an end sometime — now is just earlier than I thought. But it’s tough.”

Other than the obvious, Garrard has one other regret. He said, unlike the perception from last August in Miami, he didn’t injure himself at the pool with his kids. He said he was struggling with his knee during Dolphins training camp, and his needing arthroscopic surgery — which caused the Dolphins to cut him — was from normal wear and tear of training camp, exacerbated by a pivot on the deck of the pool. That’s his version of the story.

“I was home, resting by the pool, and I turned to see my son, and by just pivoting around, I aggravated it,” he said. “It’s not true at all that I was in the pool, playing with my kids. I guess being on Hard Knocks, or whatever, with all the attention we had, some version of the story that wasn’t true got out.”

This year, Garrard said his knee — which was already missing much of its cartilage, causing bone-on-bone friction — just never felt right. “I couldn’t jog most days,” he said. “I could barely walk around without it hurting. And we weren’t even in the strenuous part of camp yet. I figured, ‘No way I can just take every fourth day off.’ I went to see Rex [Ryan], and I just told him I didn’t think I could do it. He didn’t want to hear it. But I just told him what the doctor said — it’s only going to get worse. And that was it.”

Garrard said Ryan told him he’d make a great coach, and he’s thinking about interning on the coaching staff this summer at camp. “I was excited to be able to work with Geno and Mark,” Garrard said.

Lots of Jets fans were hoping he’d actually beat out Geno Smith, the rookie, and Mark Sanchez, the very shaky incumbent, and start the season. As was Garrard.

“I knew I was going to play great,” Garrard said. “I knew I would have proven I was a good starting quarterback in the NFL.”

Now it’s Sanchez and Smith, perhaps with an interesting summer tutor. That’s not the summer job David Garrard had in mind.

NFL: Reviewing options for Tom Brady – Patriots is a post from: PhatzRadio.com

Related Links:

• No Related Links