Tom Brady on His Personality Transformation: ‘It's Nice That I’ve Found My Voice More’: TRAINA THOUGHTS

1. At the start of the pandemic last year, with nothing to promote, Tom Brady did a near-two-hour interview with Howard Stern.

Brady, at age 44, opened up in a way we had never heard before. And since then, we’ve seen many new sides of Brady and gotten more of his personality than we ever did during his 20 seasons in New England.

“It’s nice that I’ve found my voice more," Brady said Monday. "I really enjoy being around my teammates, my coaches–it’s been a different environment. [I’m] just really enjoying the experience of playing football, playing with this group of guys.”

Some people will interpret that comment as a shot at New England and Bill Belichick, others may chalk up Brady’s new comfort level to age. It’s most likely a combination of both.

Brady’s teammates have always seen his lighter side, but now the public is being treated to the show.

“I don’t know what ya’ll paint the guy as, like he’s an alien or something,” left tackle Donovan Smith told ESPN. “He has a sense of humor. He's human. He likes to have fun. I mean, who doesn’t? Everybody likes to have fun, joke around.”

Clearly. We’ve seen Brady do everything from sing with James Corden on late-night television to joke around with President Joe Biden to talk trash like a savage to his opponents for a charity golf match.

And it’s all been fun and fascinating to see. It only makes me wish we’d seen the real Tom Brady sooner, but, to use the most popular cliché ever, better late than never.

2. Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand reports that NFL Sunday Ticket could remain with DirecTV after the contract ends following the 2022 season. A streaming service will be added, but DirecTV will still be a player for the service.

3. This video of a cat getting loose on the field at Yankee Stadium on Monday night starts a little slow, but ends up mesmerizing you.

4. We told you the other day that Packers offensive lineman David Bakhtiari gifted Aaron Rodgers a pretty sweet golf cart. Rodgers seems to be making good use of it.

5. HBO released the trailer for the upcoming season of Hard Knocks this morning.

6. The latest episode of the SI Media Podcast features an interview with Bryan Curtis of The Ringer.

The writer and cohost of the Press Box podcast talks about a recent article he wrote about longtime Dallas broadcaster Dale Hansen and the death of the local news sportscaster.

Curtis also discusses how ESPN’s problem with NBA Countdown got exposed during the Rachel Nichols–Maria Taylor controversy, why ESPN did not get its white whale in the new Monday Night Football deal with Peyton Manning, the low Olympics ratings and viewers’ gripes about NBC's coverage, Charles Barkley’s freedom, Siskel and Ebert and much more.

Following the interview with Curtis, Sal Licata from WFAN and SNY joins the podcast for the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment, during which he discussed the worst time on the sports calendar, the viciousness of TikTok and more.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify or Stitcher.

You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 95th birthday to Tony Bennett. His song, "Rags to Riches," was so perfect for the opening of Goodfellas.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.