Some were surprised when the New England Patriots used their second-round pick in this year’s NFL draft to pick a quarterback — Eastern Illinois’ Jimmy Garoppolo.
Tom Brady wasn’t one of them.
“I felt like I had a pretty good idea we’d take a quarterback,” the longtime Patriots signal-caller told TheMMQB.com. “Coach (Bill) Belichick doesn’t care who the quarterback is here. He’s always going to play the guy who he thinks gives him the best chance to win. It’s not my role to choose players here, thankfully. And this is not the first time they’ve taken another quarterback either. There’s no entitlement in the NFL. I don’t expect to be given anything. I just hope I’m the one most entitled to play that position for a long time here.”
At 62nd overall, Garoppolo was the highest pick the Patriots have used on a quarterback during the Brady-Belichick era. But Brady, who turns 37 in August, doesn’t plan on handing the reins over any time soon.
“There’s nothing that can wake me up at 5 o’clock in the morning on a Thursday morning in May like getting ready for a day of football,” Brady said. “I want to play a long time. There’s nothing I like doing that’s close to football. What’ll I do when I’m done playing? I don’t know, but I know it won’t be nearly as fun. I can tell you neither me nor Peyton (Manning) will probably be very far from the game of football when we’re done.”
