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          Tom Brady on Matt Ryan: 'Incredible year, as deserving as anybody'

          • Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff WriterJan 9, 2017, 10:00 AM ET
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              Mike Reiss is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the New England Patriots. Reiss has covered the Patriots since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2009. In 2019, he was named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. You can follow Reiss on Twitter at @MikeReiss.
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          FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has been among the top candidates for the NFL's Most Valuable Player Award despite missing the first four games due to suspension. But if the Associated Press All-Pro vote is any indication, he will fall short of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan.

          Ryan earned the All-Pro nod at quarterback over Brady with 29 votes to Brady's 14. The same panel of 50 media members will determine the MVP winner.

          Brady was asked his thoughts on the topic during his weekly interview on sports radio WEEI's "Kirk and Callahan" program: "Does it mean anything to you to be MVP?"

          "I've been fortunate to win it [2007, 2010], so it's a very cool thing because you think about how far you've come as a player. Everyone starts and kind of has their own football experience. To realize, 'Man, I won that award -- they only choose one guy and they chose me' is very cool. But I think Matt has had an incredible year. I think he is as deserving as anybody. He's got that team playing well," Brady said on the program.

          "Watching Aaron Rodgers play last night, he's had an incredible year. It always just seems to go to a quarterback. It's very rarely that it doesn't. There are a lot of great players in the league. Just to be in consideration is very flattering, but you couldn't do it without your teammates. The individual awards, to me, have always been a reflection of what your team success has been. If you're 2-14, you're not winning any awards. If you're 14-2, yeah, you'll be considered for a lot of things because your work is paying off. ... What matters to me is just winning every time we take the field."

          When it was mentioned to Brady that not one Patriots player made the All-Pro team and he was asked which teammates he felt might have been wronged, he detailed several of them.

          "I think we've had a lot of people up for consideration," he said, pointing out offensive linemen Marcus Cannon and Shaq Mason, receiver Julian Edelman, tight end Martellus Bennett, running back LeGarrette Blount, fullback James Develin, safety Devin McCourty and cornerback Malcolm Butler, before saying, "There are a lot of great players we have."