New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, in addition to being one of the all-time greats, is also known for his rants on the sidelines with his teammates that include dropping the F-bombs.
But just don’t blame him for the profanity. Instead, he said to blame the networks when cameras show him using his word choice.
The most recent example came Sunday night during the Patriots’ 23-14 victory over the San Diego Chargers on NBC to a national television audience. An emotional Brady was shown stomping up and down the sideline and cursing in an attempt to get his team going.
“I wish I did have a better mouth out there at times. But there’s nothing that quite expresses the way I feel like that word,” Brady admitted Monday morning in his weekly interview with WEEI’s “Dennis and Callahan” show
“It is (a great word), especially in the heat of the moment. No I don’t say it at home, of course not. It’s pretty well filtered at the house. Blame CBS, NBC for putting it on TV, don’t blame me.
“We’re not choirboys, I know that. You bring us up to a certain level of intensity to the game, your job is to go out there and physically, emotionally, mentally dominate the game. You don’t do that at church on Sunday. You’ve got to go to the football field for that.”
Brady laughed when asked if his mother or wife have ever asked him to calm down on the field.
“It’s the only place I get a chance to do it,” he said. “It’s such an emotional game. You’ve got to bring it every week. That’s what you’ve got to do. Especially when you’re making good plays like our guys were making last night, it makes it pretty easy to get excited about it.
“You’re always trying to level everybody’s level of awareness, raise their level of play so that you can go out there and be as excited as you possibly can. I’ve always played that way, and I probably will until the day I hang these cleats up.”
In Sunday night’s game, the Patriots rebounded from a 14-3 deficit, scoring the game’s final 20 points to beat the Chargers.
The Patriots, who lost at Green Bay a week ago, bounced back from a regular-season loss with a victory for the 10th consecutive time. New England (10-3) snapped the Chargers’ three-game winning streak.
The Chargers (8-5) were shut out in the second half, and they fell two games behind the first-place Denver Broncos in the AFC West with three games remaining.
Brady finished 28 of 44 for 317 yards with two touchdown passes and an interception.
Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers completed 20 of 33 passes for 189 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
New England, which won for the eighth time in nine games, pulled away to a 23-14 lead on wide receiver Julian Edelman’s 69-yard scoring catch with eight minutes left in the game. Edelman ran a slant route off play-action and then shook two tacklers for the game’s biggest play.
Edelman gained 141 yards on eight receptions. Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski also had eight catches and a touchdown, producing 87 receiving yards.
The victory pushed New England’s run to 12 seasons with at least 10 wins, the second-longest streak in NFL history. Brady ran his record against Rivers to 6-0.
The Patriots pushed ahead 16-14 on Stephen Gostkowski’s 38-yard field goal with 10 minutes remaining. It was Gostkowski’s third field goal, and it gave New England the lead for the first time since the first quarter.
A scoreless third quarter featured a Rivers interception and the Patriots failing to convert on four third-down plays.
Gronkowski’s 14-yard scoring connection with Brady pulled New England within 14-13 in the second quarter. The Patriots converted good field position from a blocked punt by cornerback Brandon Browner for the touchdown.
The Patriots cut the deficit to 14-6 on Gostkowski’s second of two 22-yard field goals midway through the second quarter.
Chargers safety Darrell Stuckey scored on a second-quarter fumble recovery, going 53 yards to put San Diego ahead 14-3. Safety Jahleel Addae forced the fumble after wide receiver Brandon LaFell’s reception.
The Chargers took a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter on Malcom Floyd’s diving catch, a 15-yard strike from Rivers. Floyd beat Browner in single coverage as he laid out to make the difficult reception, his fifth scoring catch of the season.
New England struck first on Gostkowski’s field goal late in the opening quarter after reaching the San Diego 1-yard line.