Getty Tom Brady took a jab at his old college rival this week.
Quarterback Tom Brady had a little fun with a surprising career first ahead of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers game with the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
It came to light that the former Michigan quarterback will face a team with a former Ohio State quarterback for the first time in his 22-year NFL career. The Bears (3-3) will start rookie and former Buckeyes star Justin Fields against the Bucs (5-1).
“I’m not gonna say anything too inflammatory about Ohio State,” Brady told the media on Thursday per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “I’ll have my time when we play Ohio State. This is Michigan State week, so those are the guys that I can kinda go after.”
Tom Brady will face Justin Fields, the first Ohio State QB to start against the former Michigan star. His response is worth the time.
Brady’s old college team improved to 7-0 on Saturday, which gives the No. 6 Wolverines a showdown with the unbeaten No. 9 Spartans (7-0) this week. The Wolverines play the No. 5 Buckeyes (6-1) in November.
Brady beat the Buckeyes once as starter in 1998 and threw for 375 yards in the win. He doesn’t fare as well when he bets on who will win “The Game” between the rivals according to Cleveland.com’s Doug Lsemerises.
Ohio State produces loads of NFL talent, and some have been Brady’s teammates or opponents — just no Hall of Fame-caliber quarterbacks recently. Brady had to “reflect” on that one a little, which he was safe doing since the Bucs don’t have any former OSU players on the roster.
“That’s interesting. Why is there not a lot of Ohio State quarterbacks in the pros? Lots of Michigan guys over the years. Not a lot of Ohio State guys,” Brady said.
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No Exaggeration for Brady
Brady isn’t exaggerating as the Buckeyes have a history of NFL quarterback draft busts per Sporting News’ Bill Bender. Fields looks to change that trend with the Bears.
For Brady, he went the opposite route of draft bust as an unheralded sixth-round draft pick from Michigan and went on to win seven Super Bowls. He became the greatest quarterback of all time in the process, never forgetting how it started for him.
Brady can add a win over an ex-OSU quarterback to his vast list of achievements if he can lead the Bucs past a Fields-led Bears team on Sunday. The Bucs have a three-game winning streak since a Week 3 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
“You can’t take the foot off the gas at all,” Brady told the media via Buccaneers.com’s Scott Smith.
Unfinished Business for Brady
Last season, Brady had a winning drive in sight on a Thursday night in Chicago before his mix-up on downs thwarted the drive. He thought it was third down instead of fourth down when throwing short of the first down marker in a 20-19 loss.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been as confused as I am in this moment.”
@TomBrady reacts to the play where he thought it was 3rd down, but it was really 4th 😂
“It seems like a long time ago, but actually it wasn’t that long ago,” Brady told the media per NFL.com’s Nick Shook. “Yeah, that hasn’t happened very often in my career; for some reason it happened in that moment. But yeah, that was a tough loss and I think we learned a lot from that loss last year.”
Brady was still getting used to a new system in Tampa Bay at the time. This season, he already has 17 touchdown passes.