Linebacker Von Miller recently signed a six-year deal with the Buffalo Bills recently after winning Super Bowl LVI with the Los Angeles Rams. Despite his age, the 33-year-old Miller told Mark Gaughan of The Buffalo News that he plans to play out his latest deal. According to Miller, he admires the longevity of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and former Bills Bruce Smith for keeping their careers alive even past the age of 40. “Tom Brady’s done it, Bruce Smith has done it. All the guys that I look up to when it comes to longevity in careers,” said Miller, per Diario AS.
Brady, who will turn 45 next month, will enter his 23rd NFL season while Smith played 19 seasons in the NFL – 15 with the Bills and four with the Washington Redskins – before calling it a career at age 40. In the NFC Divisional Round last season, Miller helped the Rams beat Brady and the Buccaneers, 30-27, and eventually went on to win Super Bowl LVI. The Rams did not keep Miller, who then signed a six-year deal worth $120 million with the Bills.
Evans talked about Brady’s return
At first, Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans thought Brady was trolling him when the latter said he would return to the team after a brief retirement. Evans made this admission to Ari Alexander of KPRC, saying Brady first texted him about the football he threw to Evans for a touchdown in their playoff showdown against the Los Angeles Rams.
The touchdown ball – which was presumed to be Brady’s last touchdown pass if he stayed retired – sold for $518,000 at an auction. “He texted me and he sent me an article where his ball sold for over 500 grand, the last touchdown that I threw in the stands against the Rams,” Evans said.
Evans said Brady told him that if Evans had kept the ball, he could have paid his kid’s college tuition.
“He said, ‘That’s a lot of tuition money.’ I just laughed,” said Evans, adding that he then told Brady that he didn’t know he was going to retire days after their 30-27 loss to the Rams in the NFC Divisional Round. After that, Brady told him “there’s more touchdowns in our future.” Initially, Evans said he thought Brady was just trolling him, but he believed the statement was true when the quarterback announced that he’s coming back.
“I thought he was just playing around,” said Evans, who said in a separate interview that Brady’s return has given him extra motivation to further succeed in the coming season. Evans has emerged as one of the best wide receivers in the NFL since he was selected 7th overall by the Buccaneers in the 2014 NFL Draft. Since then, Evans has racked up 1,000 yards or more receiving yards in each of his first eight seasons with the Buccaneers, the first player to do so in the NFL.