It feels like something that would never happen. If you’re my age bracket (25-35), then all you have ever known since watching the NFL is Tom Brady playing quarterback in the NFL. Mostly with the New England Patriots, and unfortunately, meant he played the Bills twice a season.
But on January 29th, 2022, that inevitable day finally came.
According to Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington of ESPN, Tom Brady is retiring from the NFL at the age of 44.
Brady was a 7th-round draft pick in 2000, and say his first year behind Drew Bledsoe and Damon Huard in New England. Brady became the starter in 2001 after New York Jets linebacker Mo Lewis injured Bledsoe.
Brady never gave Bledsoe his job back and won the Super Bowl that season against the St. Louis Rams.
Brady went on to play 20 seasons with the Patriots and won six total Super Bowl titles, along with playing in three others, which he nearly won as well.
He finished his career with two seasons in Tampa Bay, which added another Super Bowl ring to his name. Brady won seven Super Bowls, was named to 15 Pro Bowls, and won three league MVP’s. He will go down as the greatest quarterback of all-time.
He’s passed for more yards than any other quarterback (84,520), and more passing touchdowns than any other quarterback in history (624).
The sad part for me, and anyone else in Buffalo, is that the most accomplished quarterback of all-time played in the same division as the Buffalo Bills. I have a ton of respect for Brady, and he proved the past two seasons that he was the driving force of the Patriots dynasty, but he ruined my childhood in a sense.
The Bills only beat Brady three times in 19 seasons as Patriots starter, and it was tough knowing that it would be chalked up two guaranteed losses for the Bills, especially since they never had a consistent starter from 2000-2017 — the entire playoff drought.
Bills fans are happy that Brady is now gone and now we wait to see when Bill Belichick finally retires. The best part about it is that Josh Allen is only 25 and we have at least another decade of him controlling the AFC East.
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