Tom Brady fired footballs at Rodney Harrison after being intercepted in practice before Super Bowl 38, "The Verdict" documentary reveals
Tom Brady was known to be very intense as a player. He had a hypercompetitive "only losers get second place" mentality that propelled him to excellence to the tune of seven Super Bowl titles, more than any franchise.
It can be best exemplified at Super Bowl LI, wherein he refused to fold in the face of a 28-3 deficit as his mother was battling cancer, as documented in Tuesday's premiere of the VICE TV documentary Brady vs. Belichick: The Verdict. But if his former New England Patriots teammate Rodney Harrison is asked, that mindset apparently extended to practice.
In that same episode, the ex-NFL safety and then-NY Daily News writer Gary Myers recalled Harrison intercepting a pass from Brady during a midweek practice session for Super Bowl XXXVIII against the Carolina Panthers. Harrison returned the ball for a touchdown, and was high-stepping the endzone as if he were prime Deion Sanders. Apparently, Brady was very happy afterward:
Myers: Tom picks up a couple footballs and starts chasing Harrison around the practice field, firing footballs at him.
Harrison: And Tom just chased me. He yelled every obscenity. It was really the highlight of my Super Bowl picking off Tom Brady.
Rodney: Practices against Tom Brady's offense were more intense than actual games
Later in that same segment, fellow former safety Devin McCourty, who played with Tom Brady dueing the second half of the Patriots' dynasty, recalled how important practices were to the defense, especially the secondary that was assigned with shutting down opposing receivers (and occasionally rushers):
"When you have good days against Brady, your confidence is so high. We’re not going to play many offenses that are as good as this offense."
This was seconded by Myers, who said they usually determined how the team would fare come gametime. Harrison would further concur by saying that practice was occasionally more intense than the playing actual opponents:
"When they won, they would shower and sing, walk past you. And they're arrogant. But when we would win, we would talk trash. It was just great, man."
Next week's episode will focus on Bill Belichick and his attributes and greatest moments in his coaching career in Foxboro. The series finale will air on February 4 and feature sports columnist Chris "Mad Dog" Russo giving his verdict on who the greater contrubitor to the dynasty was/is.