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Tom Brady praises Matt Ryan ahead of Super Bowl LI rematch
Patriots always give credit where credit is due. Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Tom Brady modestly avoided taking credit over how Matt Ryan worked on his footwork during the offseason by emulating him.

“Well, first, giving advice to Matt Ryan, he’s the MVP of the league last year — it doesn’t look like he needs advice from me,” Brady said, via NESN. “But I would say, in general, all quarterbacks are watching other quarterbacks. You’re always trying to learn and watch how others guys get rid of the ball, run some play-action, ball-handling. All those things are important to me. You can look at other players do it.”

Brady was also asked if he had any conversations with Ryan this past offseason.

“Yeah, Matt – I have a lot of respect for Matt. I really like Matt. Seeing everything he’s accomplished is pretty amazing,” Brady said of Ryan. “He went to B.C., so I saw him when he was here. We practiced against them and always watching him – I’ve seen a lot of him in the last few years. He had an incredible year last year, and I can’t say enough good things about him as a leader. He’s got great character and he’s a great player and he’s obviously great for that Falcons team.”

The New England Patriots of course made history with a 34-28 overtime victory in Super Bowl LI, storming back from a 28-3 third quarter deficit.

“Well, I mean those games, they live with you the rest of your life – the wins and the losses. I mean, I think there’s obviously 18 years for me,” Brady said of coping with a Super Bowl loss. “I mean, there’s probably some games early in my career in the middle of October that I don’t really remember that well, but I would say the Super Bowl ones you always remember pretty well. I mean, there was a lot on the line. You know, it’s just the reality of it. I mean, as players, you hope you’re in that position. You’d rather be in that game than not be in that game, win or lose. It’s great to win and it sucks to lose, but that’s playing sports.”

The highly anticipated rematch between the two squads comes Sunday night at Gillette Stadium.

This article first appeared on Sportress of Blogitude and was syndicated with permission.

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