"Tom Brady is a thug" - Ex-teammate says Bucs QB has revenge on his mind vs Patriots
Tom Brady is only a few days away from facing his former team, the New England Patriots, for the first time in his illustrious career.
Since the 2021 season schedule was released, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers star quarterback has underplayed the personal significance of playing against the team where he spent the first two decades of what will surely be a first-ballot of Hall of Fame career.
Tom Brady is ready for revenge against the Patriots
Brady may be privately stewing about the opportunity to get a win over the Patriots, but it hasn’t taken away from the storylines that surround his return. Throughout the last few weeks, many of his former teammates have come out to speak publicly about their perspectives concerning what the 44-year-old is thinking about the game.
Tom Brady needs 68 passing yards Sunday to break Drew Brees' NFL career record. Here's how that record has changed hands in Super Bowl era:
Y.A. Tittle
Johnny Unitas in 1966
Fran Tarkenton in 1976
Dan Marino in 1995
Brett Favre in 2007
Peyton Manning in 2015
Drew Brees in 2018
Former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison touched on the subject during a recent interview on The Dan Patrick Show this week and voiced that he believes Brady wants to blow out New England.
"At the end of the day, Tom [Brady] is a goon," Harrison said. "Tom is a thug. He wants to rip the Patriots face off their head. If he can win by three or four touchdowns, that's exactly what he's going to do."
Another factor that comes into play is that Brady wants to put the tough loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 3 behind him. He wants to avoid two consecutive defeats, especially if the second one comes against his former team.
As much as Brady has taken the high road with how things transpired with his previous team, it’s no secret that he’s motivated to prove them wrong. Beating head coach Bill Belichick at Gillette Stadium certainly adds another wave of emotion for him. It will be sticking it to those that didn’t believe he had enough left in the tank to lead the franchise to a Super Bowl win.
My prepared statement on Tom Brady Sr’s comments 😂… bit.ly/3lnDUHy https://t.co/Jz2zzm7rMK
Throughout the week, Brady and Belichick have continued to air praise toward each other to avoid any bulletin board material. Belichick voiced that he believes Brady could play to 50 years old if he wants.
Meanwhile, the star quarterback stated that his departure was handled properly, and he didn’t believe that the future Hall of Fame head coach wanted him gone.
"All those things are super personal," said Brady via ESPN. "We had a great relationship. Everything was handled the right way. We handled everything as gracefully as we could. It was an amazing time, it was handled perfectly. I think everyone understood where we were at -- the people involved in the situation. Things worked out the best for all of us.”
All of that sets the table for what should be a highly entertaining contest regardless of how it plays out.