It’s safe to say that pretty much every quarterback coming into the NFL these days wants to be like Tom Brady. Joe Burrow is certainly no exception. In fact, he remembers the exact moment that made him want to be just like the seven-time Super Bowl champ.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t during one of his big-time playoff performances, or after one of his record-breaking touchdowns. Rather, it was following a brutal hit that Brady absorbed during a 2001 game against the Bills, when the young Patriots quarterback rolled out an absorbed a brutal hit from Bills corner Nate Clements.
The hit was so hard that it sent Brady’s helmet flying 10-yards back. Despite the vicious shot, Tom didn’t fumble. And he didn’t stay down. And they really struck a cord with Burrow.
Here’s how the Bengals quarterback described it during an interview on Brady’s “Let’s Go” podcast:
“To kind of take it back on that toughness that Tom was talking about,” Burrow said. “My earliest memory of something like that from a quarterback is, Tom, I think you were playing the Bills maybe or the Titans. You were running to the right and you slid, and somebody just knocked your head off. The helmet goes flying…
“You got up so fast, and I saw that and I was like, ‘I want to be like that. I want to do that.’ I forget how old I was. I was probably in middle school at this point, but I just remember that vividly and trying to model myself after that.”
In case you need a refresher, here’s a look at the hit:
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Burrow will have his first chance to follow in Brady’s footsteps on Sunday, when he’ll get his opportunity to do exactly what TB12 did by leading his team to a Super Bowl in just his second season.
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