FOXBORO, Mass. — Tom Brady secured another career milestone Sunday night at Gillette Stadium, just not the one he was gunning for.
The New England Patriots quarterback entered the game against the Green Bay Packers just 3 rushing yards shy of 1,000 for his career, a number Brady has acknowledged he would like to eclipse.
While Brady ended Sunday’s 31-17 win over the Packers with minus-1 yard rushing, he did throw for 294 yards which vaulted him ahead of Peyton Manning for most total yards in the regular season and postseason combined.
After the win, head coach Bill Belichick acknowledged the impressiveness of Brady’s accomplishment before cracking a joke at the “Clydesdale’s” failed pursuit of 1K on the ground.
“Yeah, it’s unbelievable,” Belichick said after the game. “Tom’s had a tremendous career and I’m so fortunate that I’ve been able to coach him. He’s been our quarterback since 2001. Yeah, it’s a tremendous accomplishment and he’s earned it. Nobody has given him anything. He’s worked harder than anybody to prepare each week, to practice, to improve, to be healthy, to take care of himself and to know the game plan and know the defense.”
And here comes the zinger.
“His achievements — he’s earned them and deserves them. Did he pass the rushing record this week? No, didn’t get that? OK, but yeah, that’s all right,” Belichick said with a small chuckle. “That’s not that important of a record. We could’ve used the yards. We could’ve used the extra yards tonight. But yeah, that’s a great achievement for him.”
Brady channeled his inner-Batman to prepare for his assault on 1,000 this weekend, so perhaps he’ll look to a different superhero for his next “TB1K” hype video.
