Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady will face off against his former team, the New England Patriots, on Sunday for the first time since leaving the squad after a 20-year stay. Last offseason, Brady signed a two-year deal worth $50 million with the Buccaneers following a two-decade stint with the Patriots, highlighted by six Super Bowl wins in nine appearances. Hours before the game, the 44-year-old Brady posted a hype video before the game on his social media accounts, which features his highlights while wearing a Patriots uniform. The video features Brady entering Gillette Stadium in a Patriots uniform as well as shots of the six championship banners in Foxborough, while a quote from the movie "Friday Night Lights" is being narrated.
Brady accompanied the post with the caption “Good to be back.”
In an Instagram story, Brady’s wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, also posted “So good to be back” with a view of two swans swimming in a pond at a park in Boston, Massachusetts. Brady and Gisele called New England home for more than a decade after they got married in 2009. Brady will try to become the fourth quarterback to beat all 32 NFL teams when he takes on his former squad, joining Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Brett Favre. Brady is also 68 yards away from setting an NFL all-time passing yards record currently owns by Brees.
Brady requests no ceremony if he breaks record
Earlier in the day, it was reported that the Patriots won’t temporarily halt the game if Brady breaks the all-time passing yardage record to hold a short ceremony, like what the New Orleans Saints did to Brees when he set the mark.
Per a report by Mike Florio, the Patriots only plan to “pause” to acknowledge the achievement but there would be no stoppage for any kind of ceremony. Turns out it was Brady who requested that no ceremony should be held, per Jay Glazer of Fox Sports. Glazer said Brady doesn’t want to stop the game as he would have a hard time containing his emotions.
Aside from the all-time passing yardage record, Brady is also eyeing to clinch the record for most passing yards in a single stadium, also currently owned by Brees. The veteran quarterback is just 350 yards away from surpassing the current mark of 35,506 yards, which Brees set at Superdome, home of the Saints. In his 20-year career in New England, Brady threw for 35,157 yards at Gillette Stadium.
Brady’s family gave QB some space
Knowing the magnitude of the game for Brady, Gisele and their kids have given him enough spare to focus, according to Matt Hladik of The Spun. Hladik, citing information from NFL Countdown, reported that Gisele and their two children – Benjamin and Vivian -- left the house on Friday morning and traveled to Massachusetts on Friday. They were spotted at a Boston-area restaurant with Brady’s father while celebrating the christening of Brady’s nephew.
