Seahawks praise Brady's intensity

Matthew Emmons/USA Today Images

Patriots fans know Tom Brady as one of the most fiery guys on the team. The rest of the world sees him as a guy who loves to complain to referees and endorses Uggs.

The Seattle Seahawks, however, see Brady the same way Patriots fans do - fiery, passionate, and a hell of a lot of fun to watch. A pissed off Brady is him at his best, and that's what I, as well as every other Patriots fan, want to see on Sunday night.

Brady's passion for the game has always been on display, but it really came to light at different points over the last two seasons, when he would get frustrated with a then-new receiving group dropping passes left and right, yelling at himself on the sideline after he would throw an interception, emphatically celebrating touchdowns, and even letting out a few F-bombs in Green Bay. But we love the guy all the same.

What has become more apparent in recent weeks is that Brady is more of a trash-talker than some may realize, and that's okay by the Seahawks.

Per Phil Perry of CSNNE.com:

"He's fiery, but he's calm," Byron Maxwell said. "He's got confidence. We could go on about Thomas Brady all day."

Not sure why Maxwell decided to call Brady by his full first name, since no one ever does. Moving on...

Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright went as far as to say he considers Brady and Aaron Rodgers the best quarterbacks he has ever played against.

“Oh I have faced Peyton Manning, Tony Romo, Aaron Rodgers," Wright said. "I’m going to say that, I’ve faced him my second year, I’m probably going to say that he’s the first one. It’s a tie between him and Aaron Rodgers, they’re really good. But he is just so smart. I’ve seen them rush him on film and he’s just so calm and he makes all the right decisions for the most part. He just does a good job at getting his guys the ball in good positions.”

Finally, safety Earl Thomas chimed in:

"He's a general in every regard," Thomas said. "He runs it. He plays with a chip on his shoulder. He's not the 'goody two-shoes' that you all think he is. He's a warrior in a way."

There are no former Patriots players on the current Seahawks squad. Before that memorable 2012 game in which the Seahawks beat the Pats in Seattle, 24-23, the two teams hadn't squared off since 2008, when Matt Cassel has the starting job. So many of these Seahawks players, if not all of them, have faced Brady once.

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

That game was the one that essentially put Richard Sherman and the rest of the Legion of Boom on the map. Everyone remembers that famous image of Sherman getting in Brady's face after the game, and for good reason. According to Sherman, Brady had told him to come find him after the Patriots win. They didn't.

Nothing wrong with what Brady said, however. It's not like he's Kevin Garnett calling people "cancer patients." It goes without saying, but Brady's going to have to back up any trash talk he throws at the Seahawks on Sunday. He's been pretty quiet in the media in that regard, but he rarely says anything that would get his opponent riled up.

NBC, who has the Super Bowl this year, will probably give Brady a lot of face time before, during and after the game (if they win) due to his fieriness and all the off-the-field stuff that has been hovering over New England's head since last week.

He'll be ready. So will the Patriots.

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