The Hollywood megastar, though, is a big fan of Mr. Brady, and he sang Brady’s praises in a podcast with NFL Network’s Rich Eisen.
“We’ll never see anybody like him again,” Damon said of Brady. “He’s my favorite athlete to watch, without a doubt. I just love, particularly now in HD, how you can see these guys, you can look into their eyes. You know who wants the ball and who doesn’t, and it’s so cool to be from a place where your quarterback absolutely wants the ball.”
Like any good Patriots fan, Damon appears to still be in denial about the alleged happening of Feb. 3, 2008, calling the David Tyree catch an “act of God.”
“And [Brady’s] got, what? Like four game-winning touchdowns in the Super Bowl at the end?” Damon joked. “I know Eli [Manning] had one after Tom had his, but Eli, I contend, threw at least three interceptions on that final drive.”
Damon, 41, was also asked to chime in on the little shouting match between Brady and offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien. The actor said a little bit of shouting should be expected from someone as fiery as Brady, and he used a personal story to help illustrate that trait.
“I took my nephew to a game in Miami, and we went down to the sideline before the game,” Damon said. “I didn’t think there was any chance that we were gonna get to see Tom before the game [because] he’s locking in at that point, but he came running over right before the kickoff. He’d already worked up a sweat, he had an unbelievable fire in his eyes. My nephew was 9 at the time, and [Brady] leaned down and looked at him and he said, ‘Are you gonna be rooting for me today, Troy?’
“And Troy couldn’t even [respond], he just nodded. And Tom leaned in and looked at him, and I swear to God, it was like two 9-year-olds talking. Tom looked at him and goes, ‘We’re gonna kill these guys.’ And he said it like a kid, like he absolutely meant that. His life’s goal in that moment was to do whatever he could to win that game. It’s an awesome intensity, so you expect that to bubble up and to flare up at times, and he handled it gracefully afterward.”
Regarding the Patriots’ Super Bowl chances, Damon said he has faith in the offense but just hopes the defense continues to give up yards without giving up too many points.
“I sure wish Rodney Harrison was still there,” he said.
