Brady on D&C: Seau 'a very special person'

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady checked in with Dennis & Callahan on Wednesday morning and talked about the healing process after the team's devastating loss to the Giants in the Super Bowl.

"I think that's the fun part about starting the OTA process is you really start looking forward at that point," said Brady, who will take part in the Best Buddies Challenge [1] charity bike ride this weekend. "For all of us, you suffer tough ends to seasons. Unless you win it all, it's a tough end to the season. You've got those months in there where really what you do is you think about the past and you think about what you can do better in your training. Once you start practicing, it's a different team. We've got a different group of guys, a different mix of talents, and we've got to see what we can put on the field.

"It's fun getting back to work and seeing everybody together and getting on the field and running football plays. Because it really forces you to move forward. I think everyone's done that at this point."

Asked which play in the Super Bowl he regrets the most, Brady said: "Anytime you don't do exactly what you hoped to do, you regret them. You lay in bed at night thinking about every play that you could have done a little bit better on. I could pick a lot of plays in that game that I wish I could have done a better job with."

Brady and wide receiver Wes Welker were caught by paparazzi on a beach shortly after the Super Bowl loss, and the QB explained that he has a special bond with his teammate.

"We're two people who spend a lot of time together," he said. "We know what each other is going through. A lot of times your girlfriends or your wives can't really console because they don't truly understand what we put in weekly to try to be at our best. They definitely see from the outside of what we have to do to prepare each week. But no one's really inside of our building in Foxboro and sees the kind of pressure and scrutiny that  all those players are out there to perform.

"You go through it and you talk through it and you support each other. Our team has always done a good job of that, every player on our team. Because I think we all do have a closeness about us that we're concerned with how people are mourning a loss or mourning something that may be really important in somebody else's life.

"My teammates are my best friends. That's the way it's always been, that's the way it's always going to be."

The Patriots were stung this offseason by the death of Junior Seau. The former linebacker committed suicide May 2 at his San Diego-area home.

"He was a very special person," Brady said. "I was fortunate to play with him and get to know him. I'm sure like a lot of people, you don't really understand why these things happen. I had a really close family friend of mine commit suicide last fall. It's just hard on the families, it's hard on friends.

"Junior was a great man. He lived with emotion. If you were a teammate you saw his emotion every day and his love for life and his love for the game and his love for his teammates, which is probably why it surprised so many people. Obviously he was going through some things that were tough on him. I wish he could find ways to get help. Unfortunately, these things happen.

"It was very tough for myself, for a lot of his friends, a lot of guys who sat in the locker room with him, who sat in team meeting rooms with him. We all looked up to him so much -- and we still do. Certainly he lived a very full life in the short time that he was here with us."

Following are more highlights from the interview.

On Welker's contract situation: "I wish there was an easy answer. I always support Wes. But none of those decisions are up to me. These things end up working themselves out at some point. I don't know how or when or who or why. Sometimes I get emotionally involved in those situations and it doesn't work out well for me. I just try to support him as a friend. We're all in this business and it's a tough business. You always hope for the best. I don't know what's going to happen. I love Wes. I'd love to have him here for as long as I'm playing. But none of those things are really up to me."

On new teammate Brandon Lloyd: "Brandon's going into his 10th year. He's really a professional as well. He knows how to prepare himself. And he's been in our offense [playing under Josh McDaniels]. He has at least familiarity with the things that we're doing. It's been fun to work with him."

On his Funny or Die video for Under Armour [2]: "It's not like Tom Hanks in 'Cast Away.' It's not I'm playing some dramatic role or something. I'm pretty much being me. It was fun. … When I saw what they were asking me to do I thought it could be pretty good. There were some funny parts of that day that maybe they caught on some B-role stuff. I was laughing pretty much the whole day until they told me to get pissed. They're like, 'No, it's much more funny when you get really pissed.' "

To hear the interview, go to the Dennis & Callahan audio on demand page [3]. For more Patriots news, visit the team page at weei.com/patriots [4].