Sunday night, Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson faced off with Tom Brady for the third time in his three-year career. He entered the game at 0-2 but was able to secure a victory against the six-time Super Bowl champion. This was a special moment for the former first-round pick out of Clemson because he knew that Brady wouldn’t be around forever.
“That’s the GOAT,” Watson told reporters following the game. “It’s special for me before he hang it up. I had to at least get one. The first two, I was 0-2, and he got me. I had to get this one, and it was great.”
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The Texans quarterback was successful against the vaunted Patriots defense, throwing for 234 yards and three touchdowns in primetime. He also caught a touchdown pass from wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins on a trick play that they had drawn up on notebook paper.
While the Texans were finding success against the Patriots, Brady and his receivers were struggling mightily. The veteran finished his night with 326 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception while only completing 51.1 percent of his throws. Two of the touchdowns came late in the fourth quarter when Houston was trying to run out the clock.
“You know, that’s my role model, a guy that’s been doing it forever,” Watson said during his postgame press conference. “[He’s been playing for] over 20 years, I’m only alive for 20 years, so it’s pretty awesome to finally get one and to just see the love and respect we have for each other and it was big. So, it was awesome.”
While Brady was certainly unhappy about losing the advantage in the AFC playoff race, as well as in primetime, he didn’t take out this frustration on Watson. He met with the young Texans quarterback and offered him some advice for the future. Brady is someone that has found sustained success for 20 years while Watson is only in his third season as a pro.
There is plenty of information that Watson could gain by spending time with Brady and picking his brain, and it appears that he will be doing just that after the season is over. As he explained to reporters, the young Texans quarterback will be talking to Brady and trying to gain some critical knowledge.
“He [Brady] just, you know, congratulated me and said, ‘Keep going, stay healthy.’ You know, we’ve been in touch,” Watson said. “We’re going to talk this offseason. And definitely, you know, a resource that you know he’s going to give an opportunity to check-in and learn from him. I’m definitely going to take it.”
(Photo Credit: Wesley Hitt/Getty)
