Elite At (Soon-To-Be) 45
May 25th, 2022
“Who you callin’ ‘old?’”
Tom Brady is encroaching into uncharted waters and walking on a freshly snow-covered field.
No one knows what the next few steps will look like. Because no one has been there before.
Very, very few quarterbacks have taken a snap in the NFL at the age of 45, just five years shy of AARP eligibility. Tom Brady turns 45 on Aug 3. And as former NFL general manager Mike Tannenbaum sees it, Brady is still elite.
In the Super Bowl era, only George Blanda played quarterback after his 45th birthday. His last snap from center came when he was 48. At that time, Blanda was a Raiders placekicker and a third-string backup quarterback. Blanda, a Hall of Fame quarterback, too, was well past his prime.
Tannenbaum, typing for his website The33rdTeam.com, decided to list starting quarterbacks in tiers. Brady is among the best included in the same group with Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Pat Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers.
Not too bad for an old guy, eh?
May 25th, 2022 at 9:24 am
The speed of the mind is a powerful thing….everything calculated.
May 25th, 2022 at 9:50 am
Make no mistake, the challenge will be the first games this season. It isn’t just the strength of the competition, it will be Brady and his receivers getting on the same page. There is a learning curve with Brady, if he’s going to rely on you, you have to learn to read the field and adjust your routes. For example, most fans thought that the first game in 2020 against the Saints demonstrated that Brady was as inaccurate as Winston, based on that interception on a pass intended for Evans. It wasn’t inaccuracy, Brady and Evans just weren’t on the same page yet. Brady threw the ball to where he expected Evans to be, and Evans was where he thought he was supposed to be.
I expect that’s going to happen with Gage. And of course, the drop-off in talent and chemistry is going to be dramatic for the WR3.
May 25th, 2022 at 10:13 am
Aside from SB aspirations, my biggest hope is that Brady will hang on one more year. I’d really like to see him in our creamsicle throw-back unis, which I understand will be worn in 2023.
May 25th, 2022 at 12:44 pm
Brady is remarkable and could probably go 2-3 more years. But getting out while he can relatively unscathed is the way to go. When u have 7 championships how important is an 8th? Save your brain sir. I can see why he wanted to win without Belichick, but when is enough enough?
That being said, go bucs!
May 25th, 2022 at 2:17 pm
I can’t disagree too much. Maybe a quibble or two with his ratings.
May 25th, 2022 at 5:59 pm
And some moron thinks better days are ahead when TB12 retires.
ROTFLMAO!