Atlanta Falcons

The two Super Bowl QBs were uncomfortably nice when interviewed together

Published Jan. 31, 2017 6:41 a.m. ET

Cameron DaSilva

The biggest stars of Sunday’s Super Bowl are undoubtedly Tom Brady and Matt Ryan. They were Nos. 1 and 2 in passer rating this season and are among the top handful of NFL quarterbacks. It’s largely because of the two MVP candidates that the Patriots and Falcons will meet in Sunday's big game.

At Monday's Super Bowl Opening Night, the two were interviewed at the same time. Not surprisingly, they were remarkably complimentary of each other. In fact, it was somewhat awkward how much praise they were throwing around. Of course, that’s mainly because of the situation they were put in, but there was nothing but kind words shared during the interview.

Ryan began by discussing how much he’s learned from Brady just by watching how he operates on a weekly basis.

“I’ve learned a lot, just watching from afar,” Ryan said. “His consistency for his career has been very impressive. That’s probably the biggest thing, the way he works week in and week out, year in and year out. He plays the game the right way and plays really hard.”

Brady, in his seventh Super Bowl, was asked to give Ryan a bit of advice. That’s not exactly the most competitive thing to do a few days before the game, and it was hardly a surprise to hear Brady’s non-response.

“Well, Matt doesn’t need my advice. He’s doing just fine without it. He’s had an incredible season,” Brady said. “I’ve always kinda watched Matt obviously being at BC, not far from Gillette Stadium. He’s had an incredible career. To be the first pick overall, come with all those expectations and to be able to fulfill them in the city of Atlanta, that’s been pretty cool. He’s a great player, a great leader and it’ll be a test for us.”

“I think you just go and do your normal routine,” Ryan said. “For us, it’s getting back to work tomorrow and focusing on our meetings and getting on the practice field and making sure we do the right things. Just having that build up during the week that we normally have so we’re ready to go when the ball gets kicked off on Sunday night.”