Getty Tom Brady's family faced COVID-19 early in the Bucs' season.
Tom Brady anxiously Face Timed his father regularly during the first few weeks of the Super Bowl-bound Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ season.
The Bucs star quarterback’s parents battled COVID-19 at the time, which Tom Brady Sr., 76, shared in a radio interview with ESPN’s Mike Greenberg on Monday. Brady Sr. told Greenberg that he was hospitalized due to COVID for nearly three weeks, and his wife Galynn, 76, also had COVID, but their daughter, a registered nurse, cared for her at home.
“We’ve never missed a game whether Michigan or New England or wherever,” Brady Sr. told Greenberg. “For the first two (Bucs) games when I was in the hospital, I didn’t even care if they were playing, much less missing the game. It was a matter of life and death, just like anybody that goes to the hospital. It’s serious stuff.”
Brady Sr. also shared that they fully recovered and hope to attend their son’s 10th Super Bowl, which the Bucs secured with a 31-26 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. The Bucs face the Kansas City Cheifs in the Super Bowl on Feb. 7 in Tampa. The elder Brady expressed his amazement over the younger Brady’s latest achievement on Greenberg’s show.
“This is stuff that nobody can imagine happening,” Brady Sr. told Greenberg. “We’ve been blessed and Tommy stayed healthy. It’s just really fun.”
Overcoming Challenges
Brady faced his own set of challenges on Sunday at Green Bay when he threw three interceptions in the second half.
The Packers climbed back into the game, but Brady cut down on the miscues and led the Bucs to a field goal, and he wound down the clock on his final drive. His mastery amid mistakes became more untouchable according to CBS Sports — he became the first quarterback to win three playoff games despite throwing three interceptions.
Tom Brady is 3-1 in playoff games when he has thrown 3+ INT (only QB ever with more than 2 wins).
It can’t give the Chiefs much solace if Brady makes mistakes in the Super Bowl. He nearly rallied the Bucs back against the Chiefs in the regular season, a 27-24 Tampa loss, despite throwing two interceptions. Fox Sports’ Skip Bayless Tweeted that he believes that game would have ended differently had the Bucs got the ball back.
I remind you: On Nov. 29 at Tampa Bay, Bucs spotted Chiefs leads of 17-0 and 27-10 before roaring back thanks to 2 long 4th-q Brady drives to cut it to 27-24, 4:10 left. Bucs couldn’t get Brady the ball back, or he would’ve won it.
Instead, the Bucs lost and dropped to 7-5 with the loss as the speculation of tensions between Brady and head coach Bruce Arians continued. The Bucs haven’t lost since, winning seven-straight games.
More Rare Air for Brady
Brady became the fourth starting quarterback to reach the Super Bowl with at least two different teams per ESPN Boston’s Mike Reiss. Craig Morton, Kurt Warner, and Peyton Manning did it before.
Tom Brady joins Peyton Manning (Colts, Broncos), Kurt Warner (Rams, Cardinals) and Craig Morton (Cowboys, Broncos) as the only QBs to start in a Super Bowl for multiple franchises.
Brady reached nine Super Bowls with the New England Patriots between 2002 and 2019 before joining the Bucs via free agency in March 2020. He has a 6-3 record in Super Bowls.
Before he joined the Bucs, Brady ironically already made more Super Bowls than any NFL franchise except the Patriots with 11 appearances. All other teams have eight or fewer trips to the Super Bowl. The Bucs have their second on the horizon.
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