Getty Tom Brady celebrates a touchdown with Leonard Fournette in the Wild Card Round.
Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers arrived at the Superdome Sunday locked in to face his longtime rival, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees.
He let the Bucs and the world know via Twitter.
Brady and the Bucs (12-5) will face the Saints (13-4) in the Divisional Round on Sunday night, the third meeting between the division rivals this season. The Bucs dropped the first two games, including Brady’s debut with the team.
Brady never has lost three times to the same team in a season. He comes into the Saints game red hot with 14 touchdowns and one interception in the past five games — all wins for the Bucs.
The Bucs signal-caller narrated the team’s playoff hype video the week before. It’s been a side-gig for him this season with a narrated hype video for former Bucs quarterback Trent Dilfer’s high school team in November ahead of a state championship game.
Brady vs. Brees
Bucs-Saints gained a boost in their rivalry when Brady signed with the Bucs as a free agent in March.
Brees said he anticipated the rivalry growing according to ESPN.
“I guess it was inevitable,” Brees said. “Listen, the minute that he signed with the Bucs and came in the division, you felt like that was gonna be a team to contend with.”
Brady said their longtime rivarly has been one of mutual respect. It dates back two when the future Hall-of-Famers played in the Big Ten in the late 1990s.
“I know what it takes to do what he’s doing (and) he knows what it takes to do what I’m doing. I think there’s just a lot of mutual respect,” Brady said in Friday’s press conference.
NBC Sports went down memory lane, recapping Brady and Brees’ teams going head-to-head in their NFL days. Brees holds a 5-2 record in those games.
He also leads Brady in passing yards for first all-time with 80,358 while Brady has 79,204 for second all-time. Brady holds the edge in touchdowns with 581 for first all-time while Brees ranks second at 571.
They had a tight race going for all-time touchdowns until Brees endured a midseason injury.
History Channel Special
Brady and Brees, both playing in their 40s, got roasted on social media for their ages.
It started with Olympian Danny Valenica commenting on Twitter that Brady’s games belong on the History Channel. Brady responded with a meme depicting himself and Brees as old men for a History Channel showdown on Sunday.
Bucs tight end Rob Gronkowski joined in the fun, suggesting that Morgan Freeman should narrate it. While that didn’t happen, actor and comedian Frank Caliendo stepped up with a narration and Freeman impression.
Here you go @RobGronkowski
History narrated by Morgan Freeman… sort of.
Despite the hype and the NFL branching out to Nickelodeon for a game broadcast in the Wild Card Round, the league stuck with Fox for the Bucs-Saints broadcast instead of the History Channel. The Saints ironically played in the Nickelodeon game against the Chicago Bears to advance and meet Brady and the Bucs.
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Tom Brady Drops Epic Hype Video Before Saints Game