Tom Brady Breaks Down What He Believes ‘Patriot Way’ Means
The New England Patriots dynasty arguably might never be replicated again in the NFL, but that won’t stop others from trying to attain that level of success.
Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs could be on their way there if they win Super Bowl LVIII. However, the key component of the Patriots’ success under Tom Brady and Bill Belichick has been described as the “Patriot Way.”
It’s always been an ambiguous saying, but it’s viewed as a secret formula for success in the NFL. If you ask Brady, there’s a lot more to it than that.
“I’ve never used that term in my entire life,” Brady said Tuesday on the “Pat McAfee Show.” “When people say it, I’m like, ‘What’s the Patriot Way? It sounds like the title of a book.’ I think what we tried to do was we tried to do things the right way. I think we tried to practice the way and prepare the right way. What happened on gameday was ultimately a reflection of what we practiced.
“I thought we had great leadership from our coaches, and it filtered down to the guys who really drove the culture. We had so many guys that I’ve played with over the course of a lot of years that really understood ‘OK, I’m gonna care about my teammates, and I’m gonna care about helping the team win.’ And whatever personal agenda you had, individual success and individual awards, I don’t want to make those insignificant, but they weren’t as significant as what we were trying to accomplish as a team. …”
The best New England players of all time often were unselfish in their goals and were lauded as team-first players. It wasn’t a surprise when Brady saluted Rob Gronkowski, but he highlighted an under-the-radar player of the early dynasty to demonstrate how the NFL is the “ultimate team sport.”
“To me, when we scored touchdowns, we’d celebrate with the O-line because, without them, we didn’t have anything,” Brady said. “I didn’t have time to throw the ball. We didn’t have holes open in the O-line for our backs to get through. When we had a tight end like (Rob Gronkowski) at the point of attack and early in my career, Dan Graham, one of the great blockers that I had ever seen, we could run to the tight end.
More NFL
“And that tight end can release up the seam and throw the ball for a big gain on third down. You could get to big targets in the red area. But again, it was all teamwork. … Those were the things we celebrated a lot as a team that maybe were unglorified on television, but those are things I’d like to point out when I’m on FOX next year is that this is the ultimate team sport. We’re playing chess out there. I’m not necessarily looking at where the ball is. I’m looking for things that create opportunities for everybody to make plays whether that’s offense, defense or in the kicking game.”
Brady’s detailed explanation of what made the Patriots so successful is simple on the surface, but fans from other franchises have seen how difficult it can be to gather all the right pieces or find the right people to build a winning culture.