TOM BRADY SAYS HE'LL RETIRE (before he's 50)
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Ladies and gentlemen, your Super Bowl LX MVP ... Tom Brady. (Illustration: Aging Booth)[/caption]
Tom Brady has said he wants to continue to cheat ... WE MEAN play in the NFL until he's 50.
Of course, that's never been done. But nothing is impossible for Brady, right Pats fans? Anything George Blanda can do, Tom can do better.
Blanda, you'll recall, was the oldest player in NFL history at age 48. Here's a list of every player to participate in the league in his 40s: Players in their 40s. It's not a big list.
But listen ... this is Brady we're talking about. The rules don't apply.
Clearly.
Hold on, though. Now, Brady is saying maybe he WON'T play until he's 50.
"That might be a little bit of a reach at this point, but hopefully it’s a lot more than what people would typically predict," Brady told reporters in New England on Wednesday. "A lot of it is … there’s a lot of luck involved. It’s a contact sport, but I try to do my best to take care of myself and put myself in a position where I can rebound from injuries and avoid them as best as possible. So, sometimes it’s hard to do. You get caught in some tough positions because, like I said, it’s a contact sport, but hopefully I can play for a long time."
Ah, come on, Tom. Who are you kidding? You know he'll be out there 12 years from now, slinging the ball around to an ancient and gnarled (but still dominant) Gronk, finding new, creative ways to NOT cheat.
He's only 38 now, so it's a comfort to know we can look forward to the many, many Patriots controversies in the years to come: Broken Hip-gate, Walker-gate, Geritol-gate, Early Bird Special-gate, I've-fallen-and-I-can't-get-up-gate ... oh, the possibilities.
Who knows? Maybe he'll win rings for all 10 fingers before it's over.
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Image: Giphy[/caption]
Illustration: Steve Hill[/caption]
For better or worse, Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota will be linked throughout their NFL careers. It’s an amazing quirk of the schedule that the No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks from the most recent draft will make their professional debuts together Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.
Are we witnessing the birth of the next great NFL quarterback rivalry?
Hard to predict.
After all, the anticipated long-time rivalry between Tim Couch and Donovan McNabb (No. 1 and 2, Class of 1999) never quite materialized, did it? And the potential RGIII-Andrew Luck rivalry hasn’t exactly emerged, even though their careers began with such promise in 2012 and both are still young.
What makes a great NFL QB rivalry?
It requires individual greatness and superior achievement, certainly. It also requires something more.
In order for a rivalry to develop, they must face each other frequently over the years, and the stakes must be high. People have to care. There has to be a buzz all week long.
We all know it’s not really QB vs. QB in an NFL game. Intellectually, we know that the true competition is between the defensive coordinators and the great QBs.
But history says something else. History says quarterbacks are measured not only by their team and individual achievements. They are measured by their success against one another.
Fair or not, that’s how Winston and Mariota will ultimately be measured, too. And it all starts this weekend.
Here is a quick look at some of the top QB rivalries in NFL history. Perhaps Winston-Mariota will join them one day:
Tom Brady (Patriots)-Peyton Manning (Colts, Broncos)
New England fans can argue that the 16 regular-season meetings between two of the game’s four or five all-time greatest passers have not constituted a rivalry. That’s because Brady’s teams have defeated Manning’s teams 11 of those 16 times.
However, they are 2-2 in four postseason matchups, and Manning’s teams actually are 2-1 against Brady’s teams in AFC Championship Games. Still, Brady’s four championship rings trump Manning’s one pretty easily.
The rivalry was stirred a bit this offseason when a 