Every year Tom Brady talks about getting better.
And, amazingly, he gets better every year.
But after three Super Bowl titles in four seasons as a starter, and general acknowledgement he is among the top two quarterbacks in the business (Peyton Manning is in the discussion), just what in the world would make Brady think he could improve again this year?
The same thing that made the Patriots' star signal caller better in 2004 than he was the year before: he is the ultimate competitor.
In many ways, Brady is competing with himself to see how much better he can be. He isn't trying to be better than Manning or Brett Favre, and he isn't trying to stay better than up-and-comers like Carson Palmer or Ben Roethlisberger.
Tom Brady is trying to be better than Tom Brady.
And in 2005, he has done just that, throwing for more yards than ever in a season, and to this point posting the highest passer rating of his stellar career.
"As I see him grow and mature and experience all that he's experienced, he's still very humble about wanting to get better, wanting to learn and expanding his repertoire," said Tom Martinez, the former coach at the College of San Mateo, who has worked with Brady on his throwing motion for some 15 years. "What I'm very impressed about with him is he's constantly trying to get better.
"Since I met him in the eighth grade, he has always asked, `What is it I need to do to get better?'"
Like a golfer's swing guru, Martinez has a diagnostic eye for Brady's throwing mechanics. He is not bragging when he says he can watch Brady throw a couple of passes and spot what is wrong. If, that is, Brady says something is wrong.
That is what Brady did in August, near the end of training camp. Something just didn't feel right, so he asked Martinez to fly east for a tuneup. With coach Bill Belichick's OK, Martinez gave Brady a look-see.
Did you see the ridiculous 32-yard dart Brady skewered David Givens with last week against Tampa? That was one of the last throws Brady worked on with Martinez in a workout session after the Patriots' final training camp practice.
It came from the same left hash, headed in the same direction inside Gillette Stadium, and it was on the same in-out corner route, only with Deion Branch as the practice target.
Actually, Brady wasn't working on that throw, so much as showing off in a way. Whatever didn't feel right in his throwing mechanics was fixed after a couple of the short throws to Branch in the 45-minute session. Back to that golf comparison, Brady got his swing back with a 9-iron and the 30-yard corner bullet was a 260-yard 2-iron at the pin on the driving range.
Four months later, he brought it to the course against the Tampa Bay.
"I think he enjoys making some throws he thinks he can make," Patriots receiver Tim Dwight said. "There are certain times I think that even by his read -- and no one reads a defense like Tom, he has a great field of vision -- his No. 1 [option] might be eliminated, but he goes, `You know what? There's some space there, I think I can do it.' He has that edge, and he has the ability to get it there when he wants to get it there."
The throws Dwight speaks of aren't the low percentage miracle throws that rocket-armed Favre made a career of, but throws Brady has worked on enough to know when he is ready to incorporate them into his game.
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