Ahead of their third clash this season, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady discussed his relationship with New Orleans Saints signal-caller Drew Brees. When asked if Brees serves as motivation to play at a high level due to their close age gap, Brady joked “He’s a lot younger than me. I mean he’s 18 younger than me,” said Brady, adding that “I've got a little advanced age on him and experience." Brady is 43 while Brees will turn 42 on Friday. Brady then praised Brees, calling him a great player. “I have a great amount of respect for him, going back to his Purdue days,” said Brady, recalling that his roommate when he first got to the New England Patriots was from Purdue and was a great friend with Brees.

“Always just kept up with him and got to know him somewhat well over the years,” said Brady, per transcription from his press conference posted on YouTube.

“I think so much of him as a person and as a player,” said Brady, adding that there’s lot of mutual respect between them. “I know what it takes to do what he’s doing and he knows what it takes to do what I’m doing. I think there’s a lot of mutual respect,” added Brady. When Brady and Brees take the field on Sunday, they will make history as the oldest starting quarterbacks in NFL history when it comes to combined age at 85. In Weeks 1 and 9, they made the NFL record at a combined age of 84. But with Brees celebrating his 42nd birthday on Friday, a new record will be set on Sunday.

Brees and the Saints won their first two meeting, 34-23 in Week 1 and 38-3 in Week 2, but the Buccaneers are hoping to turn things around as they seek a spot in the NFC Championship.

Frank Caliendo joins the mix

Recently, Brady posted a funny photo of him and Brees for their Sunday’s clash on Twitter and it drew thousands of likes and reactions from fans.

Even Brees joined in the fun as he commented "This is good!" on his Twitter account, per Amie Just of NOLA.com.

Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski said the photo would be better if actor Morgan Freeman would call the game, to which comedian and master impressionist Frank Caliendo immediately obliged.

Brees also speaks about Brady

During his press conference, Brees was also asked about his first playoff matchup with Brady. "Tom and I have a friendship and mutual respect. We were texting back and forth on Monday, chuckling at this whole scenario," Brees told the media, per Jelani Scott of NFL.com. With their combined age of 85, Brees said “that's 85 years and a lot of football experience that's gonna be on the field on Sunday." Brees currently holds the all-time record in passing yards (80,358) and completions (7,142), with Brady coming in second (79,204 and 6,778). Brady, for his part, has the all-time record in passing touchdowns with 581 compared to Brees’ 571, per Cindy Boren of the Washington Post.