Drew Brees might be retired, but that does not mean his competitive juices aren’t still flowing.
Before Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Bucs took the field against the New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football, the crew went down to the line to pick and choose who they had winning the game. After the selections, Mike Tirico started wailing off accomplishments of Tom Brady and referred to him as the greatest QB of all-time.
That’s when an upclose video showed Brees turn his smile into a quick frown upon hearing that.
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With 6:10 remaining in the first quarter Sunday night, Brady completed a 28-yard pas to Mike Evans and became the NFL’s all-time passing yardage leader. Brady needed 68 more to eclipse Drew Brees’ 80,358.
Unlike when Brees set the record with the New Orleans Saints in 2018, there was no stoppage of play or pause in the game to even acknowledge it. However, prior to the game, the Patriots did play a video tribute to Brady and he was given a warm ovation by the crowd with chants of “Brady! Brady! Brady!”
By the time the game was over, Brady finished with 22 completions on 43 attempts, totaling 269 yards in the Buccaneers’ 19-17 victory.
“I just think it’s an amazing statistic in that so many people can share in it with me,” said Brady, who brought the football to his postgame news conference. “Quarterback doesn’t throw and catch. Quarterback can just throw it. It’s yards. Passing yards have to be caught, so I just hope that everybody who caught passes from me over the years just had a little smile on their face tonight knowing they contributed to a very cool record.
“There are some people who have kind of preceded it by name. Drew Brees, who I look up to, is a hell of a guy, great player. Peyton Manning — one of my all-time favorites — Brett Favre, Dan Marino, but obviously, my teammates who caught all these passes over the years mean an awful lot to me.”
