The end of Tom Brady’s long career arrived Tuesday as the seven-time Super Bowl champion announced his retirement from the NFL after 22 years.
Brady’s Buccaneers went 13-4 this season but were knocked out of the playoffs in the Divisional round by the now Super Bowl-bound Rams.
It was just a year ago that Brady was hoisting the Lombardi for the seventh time in his first season with the Bucs at the age of 43. He came back for one more year to see if he could do it again and fell short and called it a career.
The day prior to Brady’s announcement, the Raiders were announcing the hiring of his former longtime offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as their new head coach.
McDaniels got his start in coaching with the Patriots in 2001 as a personnel assistant. That was also the year that Brady’s legacy began with a fateful play in the snow, most commonly known as the Tuck Rule game.
Charles Woodson came on the blitz and forced the fumble on Brady and LB Greg Biekert recovered it on a play that should have ended the game with a Raiders win. But the officials upstairs overruled it, citing the tuck rule.
The Patriots kept the ball and went on to win. Then they went on to win Brady’s first Super Bowl.
In McDaniels introductory press conference, he said, with Tom Brady’s blessing, that he would be admitting it was a fumble.
“When I met Josh on Saturday, we met in the hallway as we were passing,” Raiders owner Mark Davis said. “It was before the interview process was going to start. I said, hey, I introduced myself and everything, and he looked me in the eye and he said, there’s one thing: It was a fumble. So Raider Nation, if you’re worried, he’s already come over to the dark side.”
McDaniels responded by saying “True story”. Then he expanded on it.
Josh McDaniels says it was "his icebreaker" to tell Mark Davis "It was a fumble." #Raiders #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/GZKtQDNxd3
— Heidi Fang (@HeidiFang) February 1, 2022
“That was my icebreaker,” McDaniels said. “I figured, I was there, I lived through that experience, it was positive for me back then, and I think I did the right thing the other day. . . Tom and I are good friends and I told him I would have to say it.”
McDaniels enjoyed donning six rings during Tom Brady’s time in New England, three of which with McDaniels as offensive coordinator. Though Brady has seven rings and actually won more Super Bowls (4) *without* McDaniels as his OC than with (3).
Now each of them embarks on new chapters in their lives. Congrats Tom Brady on your retirement.
