The Wolverine

February 2015

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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  MICHIGAN IN THE PROS BY CHRIS BALAS N ine times now Tom Brady has prepared for an AFC Champi‑ onship Game, including a matchup against Indianapolis Jan. 18. Each time he's felt some butterflies, and this year was no different. Brady and former Michigan defen‑ sive lineman Alan Branch were the only two former Wolverines left stand‑ ing in a quest for the Super Bowl (plus Seattle lineman Stephen Schilling, who is out for the year with a knee injury). Brady's won three Super Bowls in five attempts, and the elusive fourth is again within reach following a 35‑31 divisional playoff win over Bal‑ timore. He completed 33 of 50 passes for 367 yards with three touchdowns, including the 23‑yard game‑winner to Brandon LaFell with just more than five minutes remaining in eras‑ ing two 14‑point deficits. "I get pretty edgy," Brady said days before facing Indianapolis in the AFC Championship Game. "I just think there's a high level of pressure every week and the pressure is on from the moment … I would say it's like watching the games on Sunday. "You watch the first game — Cow‑ boys‑Packers — and it's kind of fun. Then all of a sudden you watch Den‑ ver and Indy play, and as soon as that game ends it's like, 'Boom!' The clock starts. It's a race to see who can prepare the best over the course of the week." As for those nerves — it's all part of it at game time, he said. Whoever controls them better usually wins. "I think that's part of playing sports, being in a competitive situ‑ ation like we are. I don't think that ever goes away," he said. "You never know what's going to happen on game day. You work as hard as you can to try to prepare for everything to be physically and mentally right … if it doesn't happen the way you want, which is most of the time, you have to figure out something to do. "I think that's where a lot of the nerves come into play, and the anx‑ iousness and anticipation of what's going to happen versus what we pre‑   MICHIGAN IN THE PROS Tom Brady, Alan Branch Last Two Wolverines Standing Brady completed 33 of 50 passes for 367 yards with three touchdowns and ran for a score to rally the Patriots to a 35-31 victory over Baltimore in the divisional round of the playoffs Jan. 10. PHOTO BY DAVID SILVERMAN/NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

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