Getty Tom Brady poked fun at his return to Foxboro in 2021.
Tom Brady won’t compare Super Bowl teams he’s played for, but he didn’t mind comparing his current Tampa Bay Buccaneers team to his former team, the New England Patriots, in general ahead of a big showdown in the fall.
The Bucs quarterback posted on Twitter on Thursday that “it’s like when your high school friends meet your college friends” followed by an awkward tooth-filled emoji. The Bucs visit the Patriots in Week 4 on Sunday Night Football.
Brady played his first 20 years in New England after the Patriots took him in the sixth round for the 2000 NFL Draft. After leading the Patriots to six Super Bowl wins, he parted ways with longtime head coach Bill Belichick and headed for Tampa as a free agent.
Amid COVID-19 with no offseason workouts, Brady helped the Bucs gel en route to a Super Bowl LV victory. Former Patriots teammates Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown joined him along the way.
Belichick’s Patriots sunk into mediocrity with a 7-9 record as the team faced several opt-outs due to COVID-19 and starting quarterback Cam Newton struggling after contracting the virus. The Brady void grew clearer and clearer by the week while the former Patriots quarterback threw for 40 touchdowns with the Bucs.
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Brady on the Patriots, Belichick
Brady kept a distance from the Patriots during the 2020 season as the Bucs didn’t face his old team. He didn’t have too much to say when the Patriots missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008, his ACL tear, and first losing season since 2000, before he became the starter.
“I’ve been focused on how my play needs to be at quarterback,” Brady said in a December 2020 press conference per NESN. “Obviously, I have a lot of friends, a lot of great relationships, but they’ve been focused on what they need to do, and I’ve been trying to focus on what my job is.”
Brady likewise highlighted relationships when talking about Belichick before Super Bowl LV.
“I have a great relationship with him. I’m just incredibly grateful for what he’s meant in my life as a coach,” Brady told the media per Doug Kyed of NESN. He’s everything you could ask for as a player.”
“I loved my time and two incredible decades there. My football journey took me to a different place,” Braddy added per Kyed. “I certainly could never have accomplished the things in my career without his support and his teachings.”
Brady Tried to Lure Another Former Patriot
Brady may not stop at Gronkowski and Brown leaving the Patriots for Tampa.
Despite retiring from the Patriots due to ongoing knee injuries, Brady hasn’t at least stopped joking about wide receiver Julian Edelman joining the Bucs. Speculation of Edelman reuniting Brady emerged during the offseason before Edelman announced his retirement.
Edelman said his “wheels” have “fallen off” in his farewell video, but that didn’t stop Gronkowski from suggesting that he will unretire someday. Brady meanwhile joked with Edelman on social media and then on TV about coming to the Bucs.
While Edelman didn’t let either of those instances with Brady go anywhere, Edelman added fuel to the fire before retirement on Tampa as a destination. He tweeted a Pirates of Caribbean quote on April Fool’s Day, alluding to joining the Bucs but later clarified it was a joke.
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