Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady grew up idolizing quarterback Joe Montana as a young fan of the San Francisco 49ers. Brady also dreamt of playing for the 49ers when he entered the 2000 NFL Draft, but San Francisco opted to pick an athletic quarterback in Giovanni Carmazzi in the third round. Brady, for his part, was taken by the New England Patriots with the 199th overall selection. While Carmazzi never played in a regular-season game for the 49ers, Brady went on to win six Super Bowl titles with the Patriots. While Brady failed in his dream to play for the 49ers, he has chosen to follow the career path of Montana, who left San Francisco after 14 years and played two years with the Kansas City Chiefs.
In the offseason, Brady left the Patriots and signed a two-year deal worth $50 million with the Buccaneers.
The 43-year-old Brady struggled in his first two games with the Buccaneers, throwing just three touchdown passes with the same number of interceptions. However, Brady regained his dangerous form in the next five games, throwing 15 touchdown passes with just one interception as he led the Buccaneers to a 4-1 mark and threw his name in the conversation for the Most Valuable Player trophy.
Montana speaks about Brady’s performance
During an interview with Reuters, in a story posted by Sportsnaut, Montana spoke about Brady’s performance with the Buccaneers. According to Montana, Brady’s first two weeks with the Buccaneers were rocky, but based on his performance in their last five games, he said “it looks like they’ve got it all straightened out now.” “I have pity on the rest of the NFC.
Good luck!” Montana added. While Montana failed to lead the Chiefs to a Super Bowl win after getting four Lombardi trophies with the 49ers, he said Brady has a chance to make history by winning the Super Bowl in the Buccaneers’ own turf at Raymond James Stadium. No team has ever won the Super Bowl on their home field. “That would be crazy for Tampa,” said Montana, who had the chance to accomplish the feat in 1985 but the Super Bowl was played at nearby Stanford Stadium after Candlestick Park was deemed too small to host the event.
Brown could help Buccaneers, says coach
The Buccaneers recently signed talented wide receiver Antonio Brown to a one-year deal to give Brady another dangerous target on offense. According to Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, Brown’s skill set could certainly help Tampa Bay’s offense, per a report by Kevin Lewis of ABC Action News.
“The things that he can do from a skill set standpoint was unique,” said Leftwich, who played with Brown with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2010 to 2012. Brown is still serving his eight-game suspension, but he could return to action in Week 9 when the Buccaneers take on the New Orleans Saints. The Buccaneers will play the New York Giants on Monday Night Football where they are a 10-point favorite.