Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is playing in Foxborough, Massachusetts for the first time since he left the New England Patriots in 2019, and he met with his former boss, Patriots owner Robert Kraft before the game kicked off. Brady, 44, and Kraft, 80, were caught on camera sharing a hug outside the visitors’ locker room. The two had a conversation after their hug, and the Patriots posted more photos on the team’s Twitter page.
Brady is likely to pass former New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees on the NFL’s all-time career passing list during the game Sunday night. He only needs 68 yards to earn that achievement. The Patriots will pause to acknowledge the record during the game, but will not completely stop play, a team official told ESPN.
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Kraft also told ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown Brady will be honored after breaking the record at Gillettte Stadium. He also planned to show a pregame tribute video to Brady, showing that there’s no bad blood between the two. “I want everyone in this building to know, right before the Buccaneers come out, you look at the big board and for one minute we’re going to run something that I think is very respectful and worthy,” Kraft said. “And if he winds up breaking the record — although I guess in some ways I hope he doesn’t, but realistically he will — the game will stop and we will honor that moment out of respect to him as a great athlete and what he’s given to us.”
Before the game started, Brady had 80,291 passing yards, just behind Brees’ 80,358. When Brees set the record in 2018, the Saints completely stopped the game. Brees’ family was welcomed onto the field, and Pro Football Hall of Fame president and CEO David Baker took the football back to Canton. Brady’s achievement won’t be celebrated in the same way, but several of his former teammates will be there, including Ty Law and Deion Branch.
The Patriots drafted Brady in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. In his 19 seasons with the Patriots, Brady won six Super Bowls, three NFL MVP Awards, and four Super Bowl MVP awards. He signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before the 2020 season, leading the team to a victory in Super Bowl LV and winning his fifth Super Bowl MVP title. Brady is the only quarterback to win a Super Bowl in three different decades.
