TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Brady announced his retirement from the NFL on Tuesday after 22 years in the league. It was 22 years of winning. Over and over and over again.
Brady retires with the most Super Bowl wins (seven), the most Super Bowl MVPs, three regular season MVPs, the most wins in NFL history, the most touchdown passes in NFL history, the most passing yards in NFL history…
OK, OK, we can go on and on.
In those 22 iconic seasons, it’s hard to find a team that didn’t fall victim to Brady’s greatest. Whether it was the Atlanta Falcons in the iconic “28-3” Super Bowl, “The Greatest Show On Turf” against the Rams in the Super Bowl, or any number of struggles opposing teams had against Brady, most fans can remember their team being “Brady’d.”
At the Locked On Podcast Network, we asked our NFL podcast hosts around the country to remember their teams’ fondest or worst memories facing Brady.
You can watch the full video below, or in the player above the story.
Here’s a few of the highlights:
The infamous “tuck rule” game
One of the earlier iconic moments of Brady’s career was in the 2001 AFC Divisional Playoff game between the New England Patriots and the Oakland Raiders, also known as the Tuck Rule Game or the Snow Bowl.
With 1:50 left, while the Patriots were slightly out of field-goal range, Brady dropped back to pass, with no open receivers. While pumping the football, Brady was hit on his right side by Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson. While it appeared that Brady had tucked the ball back towards his body, the officials ruled it a fumble so they could review the play.
After a video-replay review, the officials reversed the call, declaring the play an incomplete forward-pass and giving ball back to New England and they went on to kick a game-winning field goal to advance to the Super Bowl.
“There’s so many things that changed the course of history in the NFL if the tuck rule never happens, including whether the dynasty in New England ever gets started,” Locked On Raiders podcast host Your Boy Q said.
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The time the Jaguars almost got away with it
With under 13 minutes to go in the 2018 AFC Championship Game, the Jaguars had a 10 point lead. That’s when Jaguars linebacker Myles Jack stripped the Patriots running back of the ball and was headed in the other direction for a touchdown.
The officials ruled the runner down by contact.
“When you give Tom Brady a break, here’s what happens,” Locked On Jaguars host Tony Wiggins said.
Brady went on to complete a 3rd and 16 with eight minutes to go. He then proceeded to slice and dice the rest of the game, scoring two touchdowns in the last eight minutes, the last one coming with less than three minutes to play, helping the Patriots to a 24-20 win.
“That ended a 2017-2018 season by Jacksonville that was really a storybook season,” Wiggins said. “It’s the only thing that has happened that has been good for Jacksonville for approximately the last 10 years.”
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Even with the success against Brady, the Dolphins were a frequent victim
As Locked On Dolphins podcast host Kyle Crabbs points out, the Miami Dolphins, a divisional opponent of Brady for 20 years, beat Tom Brady 12 times, more than any other team in the regular season ever beat him.
The Dolphins also intercepted more Tom Brady passes (27) than any other NFL team.
“Yet, Tom beat the Dolphins twice as often as the Dolphins beat him and Tom threw more touchdowns against Miami, 72, than any other team with the exception of the Buffalo Bills, who he also threw 72 against,” Crabbs said.
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The only team that really had Tom Brady’s number
Tom Brady won seven Super Bowls in 10 appearances, only losing three. Two of those game at the hands of the Eli Manning-led Giants.
While Brady got the better of the Giants in the regular season of his career, going 6-1 against the G-Men, Giants fans will never forget the two times their team met Brady in the postseason.
“The games were four years apart, and the Giants won each on a late-game score. Brady was also a gracious gentlemen whether he won or lost,” Locked On Giants host Patricia Traina said. “It was a tremendous career, it was a pleasure those few times to cover him, the game will never be the same without him and there will never be another Tom Brady in the NFL.”
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