Tom Brady admits knee injury that required offseason surgery bothered him well before Buccaneers 2020 campaign

As if Brady's first season in Tampa Bay could be any more impressive

Want to know what's more impressive than a 43-year-old quarterback winning a Super Bowl in his first year with a new team? That same quarterback doing it on a bad knee. In the aftermath of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Super Bowl-winning season in 2020, word got out that Tom Brady needed to undergo offseason surgery on his knee. At the time, it was characterized as a rather minor procedure and really more of a cleanup than anything else. However, Brady later revealed that it was rather extensive and "pretty serious." Now, we're gaining a bit more knowledge on the origins of the injury from the man himself. 

While speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Brady -- who has been participating in Tampa Bay's minicamp this week -- noted that he is happy with the progress he's made in his recovery from a knee problem that dates back to spring 2020. 

"From this point to the beginning of the season, to the beginning of training camp, I really feel like I can really work hard at football improvement as opposed to getting back to a rehab, you know, place where you're more baseline," Brady said of his knee, which went under the knife nearly 15 weeks ago to the date. "It was an injury I dealt with really since last April, May. I knew I'd have to do something at the end of the year, and happy I did it. It was probably something that certainly needed to be done and there was a great outcome, so I'm very happy about that. I feel I'll be able to do some different things this year than I was able to do last year."

Just to hammer it home: Brady was able to not only win the Super Bowl (and earn Super Bowl MVP honors) but also throw for 4,633 yards and 40 touchdowns over the regular season when he was less than 100%. Not too shabby if you ask us. 

Of course, this now brings up the question about what Brady and the Bucs can do in 2021 now that he's fully healthy and has a year's worth of experience in Bruce Arians' offense under his belt. With Tampa Bay also retaining every single starter from that Super Bowl-winning roster this offseason, it does appear like they will be able to hit the ground running once this season rolls around. 

"I just think back to where I was a year ago at this time, it was a very different situation in terms of what I knew -- the knowledge of the offense. And I think starting at a place like I'm at now allows me a better grasp of things," he said. "We're starting at a good place. We just have to build on it."