Tom Brady opens up on rehab following knee surgery: 'It's a continuous mental, physical, emotional challenge'

Tom Brady endured the most rigorous offseason of his professional career this past summer. Going through knee surgery at age 43 and being ready for training camp all within a few months proved to be a hefty workload for the seven-time Super Bowl champion.

Brady spoke on SiriusXM NFL Radio Tuesday and discussed the tumultuous road back to recovery and regaining peak form with the 2021 season rapidly approaching.

"You know, it was a tough offseason in terms of the rehab," Brady said, via JoeBucsFan.com. "But I feel like I'm really just now kind of feeling — not from a rehab standpoint but from a football standpoint — like you know my legs are feeling bouncy and ready to go. My arm's feeling live. I think that's the hard thing.

"When you miss time and you don't continue to train the way you're capable of training, it's tough because your body just wants to, you know, it feels like, 'Ok, I get time off.' And then when you get your body going again, it's hard. You're body's like, 'No, no, no, no. We're not working out. We're chilling.' You know and I'm trying to get it going and it just doesn't want to do it.

This may have been Tom Brady's toughest year. Entering year 22, Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers completed a 21-game season in which they concluded the season hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs in dominant fashion.

So @TomBrady will retire after 2 seasons with 9 rings 💍(via @TomBrady IG) pic.twitter.com/XrLJmjHAZj

— Sportskeeda Pro Football (@SKProFootball) August 17, 2021

The grueling grind of the season, coupled with an offseason spent recovering, often proves to be immense physical and mental strain for any athlete, let alone a 44-year-old.

.@TomBrady on retirement:“I’ll know when the time’s right. If I can’t ...if I’m not a championship-level quarterback, then I’m not gonna play. If I’m a liability to the team, I mean, no way. But if I think I can win a championship, then I’ll play.”(via @ProFootballTalk) pic.twitter.com/FI1LIPmQYq

— Sportskeeda Pro Football (@SKProFootball) August 23, 2021

Tom Brady's cosmic love for the game

"Again, when it's 95 [degrees], you got pads on and the helmet and you're reading coverages, and the mental strain and the day-after-day and the sleep, it's just a lot of football conditioning that needs to happen," Brady said. "Even for somebody that's been doing it as long as me, it's always a challenge.

"I think that's why I love the sport. It's a continuous mental, physical, emotional challenge. You have to bring it every day."

Although this past year has been a difficult one for the Super Bowl LV MVP, his unwavering love for the game and desire to be an exceptional quarterback has the Buccaneers poised to repeat as champions, considering the fact that they returned all 22 starters this season.