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Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady had one off-field thing on his mind right after stunning the New Orleans Saints with an improbable fourth quarter comeback win, 17-16.
“It’s my daughter’s birthday, so happy birthday Vivi Lake, daddy loves you,” Brady said, tearing up, in the ESPN postgame interview. “And hopefully that’s for her. She was a little worried when I said we’re playing the Saints. She said ‘I don’t know daddy.'”
Old man wins football game … wishes daughter happy birthday
New Orleans confirmed Vivian’s worries for her father and the Bucs. After Brady led the Bucs to a field goal in the first quarter, the offense flatlined, and the defense couldn’t hold back Saints quarterback Andy Dalton enough.
A 16-3 Saints lead with 5:34 left looked insurmountable for a Bucs squad that lost four straight at home to the Saints. The Bucs had a 0.7% chance to win at that point according to Next Gen Stats. Brady led the Bucs on the fourth-most unlikely comeback since Next Gen Stats came out in 2016, per Next Gen Stats.
Trailing 16-3 with 5:34 remaining in the game, the Buccaneers had just a 0.7% chance of winning.
The Buccaneers late-game comeback goes down as the 4th-most improbable of the Next Gen Stats era (since 2016) based on the NGS win probability model.
Actually, the comeback was insurmountable by Brady standards. He had an 0-37 regular season record and 1-43 mark in the playoffs when trailing by 13 or more points in the fourth quarter according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The only exception came in Super Bowl LI against the Atlanta Falcons, Schefter added.
All the odds didn’t stop Brady as he led touchdown drives of 10 plays for 91 yards and 11 plays for 63 yards in the final 5:21 of the game for his 44th career fourth quarter comeback. He even needed to throw the game-winning touchdown twice in the process due to a holding penalty on tackle Donovan Smith. The comeback marked Brady’s third-biggest fourth quarter comeback ever.
“Just like we drew it up,” Brady quipped with the media afterward.
Brady Passes Rachaad White, Covers for Smith
Brady threw praise around to his teammates afterward, starting with rookie running back Rachaad White, who caught the game-winning touchdown. Brady meanwhile deflected any blame toward Smith for making the second touchdown attempt necessary.
POV: You’ve witnessed a Brady game-winner on the field.
“Great rout by Rachaad. Great catch. Byron [Leftwich] made a great call,” Brady told reporters. “We thought we threw the touchdown … the one we hit to Chris [Godwin], but I threw it in about a quarter of a second. I was like … ‘how is there a hold, I caught and threw it?'”
Brady Posts Heartfelt Message for Daughter
Brady shared a birthday message for Vivian before the game via Instagram.
“Happy 10th Birthday Vivi! We adore you and your beautiful heart! You bring so much joy to our life! We love you,” Brady wrote.
Vivian is one of Brady’s two children with Gisele Bundchen, whom he divorced in October. Brady also has a son, Jack, with ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan.
Brady posts pictures of his children often on social media, expressing his love for them. That includes a recent joke regarding Vivian, warning any boys, and someday men, as she approaches adolescence.
He posted an Instagram Story that showed a picture of a tombstone that read “anyone who dates my daughter”.
“I want to be crystal clear about this,” Brady wrote.
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Tom Brady Sends Special Message After Win vs. Saints