Pictured above: Tom Brady brought home another victory for the Buccaneers on Oct. 3.
Courtesy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
By Max Steele
With nearly 30 million people watching Sunday Night Football on Oct. 3, Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the New England Patriots in Brady’s legendary homecoming game against his former team.
In the first quarter of action, Brady became the NFL’s all-time leading passer with a record 80,359 passing yards and counting. Despite being the visiting quarterback, the New England home crowd erupted in cheer and gave the future Hall of Famer a standing ovation.
Tampa Bay went on to win the game 19-17 following Ryan Succop’s 48-yard field goal to put the Buccaneers ahead. Bill Belichick’s Patriots team put up a valiant effort, led by young quarterback Mac Jones, but it wasn’t enough to match the defending Super Bowl champions.
During a post-game press conference, Brady spoke on the emotional night and showed gratitude toward the team he played with for the first 20 years of his career.
“Just a lot of emotions. Those are my friends that I have been with for a long time … these are people that I’ve shared my life with. Very grateful for everything they’ve contributed. I feel like I’ll always be a part of this community,” Brady said.
During his time in New England, Brady brought the Patriots to nine Super Bowls and won six of them. He also won four Super Bowl MVP awards and three regular season MVP awards while in Foxborough.
It’s no wonder why the home crowd welcomed him back with open arms. Many Patriots fans were seen wearing Brady jerseys and displayed signs praising the “GOAT.”
Another to welcome Brady home was the man that drafted him and believed in his potential from the very beginning, Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick. Many attribute much of Brady’s success to the incredible mentorship that Belichick provided in New England.
Over the years, the unstoppable duo built a dynasty together and became good friends in the process.
“There’s no quarterback I’d rather have than Tom Brady,” Belichick said in a press conference days before the game. “I was very lucky to have Tom as a quarterback … he’s as good as any coach could ever ask for.”
The Buccaneers improved to a record of 3-1 and are now first place in the NFC South division. Tampa Bay look to continue this success and make a return to the Super Bowl, a very realistic possibility when playing alongside the greatest football player of all time.
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Max Steele is a junior digital communication and multimedia journalism major at USF St. Petersburg.
