Getty Tom Brady led the Buccaneers to their first Super Bowl in 18 years.
Tom Brady put a different spin on the Lambeau Leap after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Green Bay Packers 31-26 on Sunday to reach Super Bowl LV.
After the final whistle, the Bucs quarterback ran to the sideline and climbed up the fence to greet his son, per WTSP’s Grace Remington.
Tom Brady: family man
Green Bay’s Lambeau Leap tradition — first executed by All-Pro safety LeRoy Butler in 1993 — was popularized by Packers players leaping into the stands to celebrate with fans after scoring touchdowns.
The Bucs defense did its part on Sunday in limiting the Packers to only three Lambeau Leap opportunities. Led by 5.0 sacks from pass rushers Shaquil Barrett (3.0) and Jason Pierre-Paul (2.0), Todd Bowles’ unit forced two turnovers, including a late second-quarter interception by Rodgers — just the sixth pick in 18 games by the MVP favorite this season.
Brady said the defense “played incredible,” per Remington.
Tom Brady on #gobucs defense: “They played incredible. Defense was spectacular, and they’ve been that way all year.”
Brady threw for 280 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions in the victory. He secured his 10th Super Bowl appearance with the win. The February 7 event will be the first time a team plays the Super Bowl in its home stadium.
Brady said the “Home Super Bowl … puts a lot of cool things in perspective,” per Fox Sports’ Sara Walsh.
Tom Brady: “Home Super Bowl for the first time in NFL history puts a lot of cool things in perspective. Now we just got to go have a great 2 weeks.” #gobucs
Brady had nothing but praise for his team, per Buccaneers staff writer Carmen Vitali:
QB Tom Brady: “So proud of this whole team and just blessed to be a part of it.”
Brady Rolls Even More Records
Notably, Brady also tied future Hall of Fame quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees in NFC Championship wins, per Barstool Sports. The Bucs ironically eliminated Brees’ New Orleans Saints and Rodgers’ Packers in the process.
Tom Brady has now tied both Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers with 1 NFC championship @betsstats
Brady also tied former Bucs quarterback and Hall of Famer Steve Young, who won one NFC title as a starter for the San Francisco 49ers in 1994, CBS Sports noted.
Tom Brady has as many NFC Championship wins as each of these guys do:
– Steve Young
– Aaron Rodgers
– Drew Brees
Brady has played 1 season in the NFC.
Brady will play in the Super Bowl in three different decades, Fox 13’s Kevin O’Donnell wrote. The longtime star played in Super Bowls in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019 with the New England Patriots before departing to Tampa Bay via free agency last March.
Brady now has reached more Super Bowls than any team other than his old club, per NESN’s Zack Cox. The Patriots made it to 11 Super Bowls, while no other team has reached more than eight.
Other that the Patriots, no NFL franchise has more than eight Super Bowl appearances.
Tom Brady now has 10.
For good measure, Brady now also leads the Bucs franchise in all-time postseason touchdown passes (six) after passing Brad Johnson (five) with three aerial strikes on Sunday, per CBS Sports. It took Brady just three playoff games to reset the mark for the 45-year-old club.
Twitter Goes Wild for Brady
Brady’s early precision got the Bucs going downfield right away following the opening kickoff, giving his team a 7-0 edge on a touchdown pass to wide receiver Mike Evans. The Bucs never trailed on Sunday, building a 21-10 lead on a deep throw by Brady to wide receiver Scotty Miller for an unthinkable 39-yard touchdown with one second remaining before halftime.
Brady said Bucs head coach Bruce Arians wanted him “to go for it,” per Fox Sports’ Sara Walsh.
Tom Brady on the td to Scotty Miller to close out the first half: “BA wanted to go for it. I liked the call and I’m going to do what ever he asks me to do.” #gobucs
As Sports Center highlighted, the 43-year-old ageless wonder had Twitter blowing up at halftime.
Tom Brady had the NFL world hyped after the first half 🐐
Things were rough for Brady for a period in the second half, when he threw three interceptions in a span of seven passes as the Packers tried to rally from a 28-10 hole. He overcame the slump in leading the Bucs to a game-sealing field goal and another drive to close out the game late in the fourth quarter.
Despite his second-half challenges, Brady garnered many more shoutouts from fellow NFL stars after improving to 10-4 in conference championship games. Houston Texans defensive end JJ Watt said it’s “just absurd what Tom Brady has accomplished in his career. Undisputed greatest of all time. Not even remotely debatable. Unreal.”
Just absurd what Tom Brady has accomplished in his career.
Undisputed greatest of all time.
Not even remotely debatable.
Unreal.
Even some media personalities such as Fox Sports’ Skip Bayless got into it.
ME, SOON AFTER TOM BRADY PULLED OFF BEATING AARON RODGERS AT LAMBEAU TO GET TO HIS TENTH SUPER BOWL.
The two-week media frenzy for Brady and the Bucs has only begun. Brady knows what to expect, having done it a few times before.
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