Mike Ehrmann/Getty Photos
Legendary quarterback and Fox analyst Tom Brady had the pleasure of broadcasting Sunday’s sport between his former Tampa Bay Buccaneers crew and the Philadelphia Eagles, and he revealed that there was an opportunity he by no means ended up in Tampa Bay within the first place.
Brady mentioned in the course of the fourth quarter of Sunday’s sport that at one level after leaving the New England Patriots in 2020, he was “critically contemplating” signing with the Chicago Bears in free company earlier than in the end deciding to hitch the Bucs:
FOX Sports activities: NFL @NFLonFOX
“Chicago was a crew, and I’ve by no means instructed that story earlier than, they had been very stealth of their recruitment.” @TomBrady shares the notecards he had when he was making his choice in free company 👀⬇️ pic.twitter.com/NmPpGMFKU2
Through the 2020 season, the Bears had quarterbacks Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles rotating beneath middle, so Brady undoubtedly would’ve been a serious improve on the place. Chicago nonetheless managed to make the playoffs with an 8-8 document and had a 1,000-yard working again in David Montgomery in addition to a 1,000-yard receiver in Allen Robinson. Nevertheless, it is clear that Brady made the suitable alternative to hitch Tampa Bay.
In his first 12 months with the Bucs, Brady earned his seventh profession Tremendous Bowl ring after defeating Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs in Tremendous Bowl LV. He led the NFL in passing yards in 2021 with a career-high 5,316 at 44 years previous. He led the Bucs to back-to-back NFC South titles earlier than his retirement on the finish of the 2022 season.
Brady defined that he took his time earlier than figuring out that becoming a member of Tampa Bay gave him precisely what he was on the lookout for, together with the chance to be near his son.
“There have been quite a lot of causes to decide on Tampa,” Brady mentioned. “I made about 18 standards why, and there have been issues all the way in which from wage clearly to the climate to the services to how nice the gamers had been.”
After not getting Brady, the Bears lastly have stability on the quarterback place after drafting Caleb Williams with the 2024 No. 1 choose. The rookie signal-caller threw for 157 yards and a landing whereas committing no turnovers in Sunday’s 24-18 win over the Los Angeles Rams to assist Chicago enhance to 2-2.