Tom Brady’s final pass as a member of the New England Patriots went for six.
Unfortunately for TB12, it wasn’t hauled in by a Pats pass-catcher.
Instead, it was corralled by now-former Titans cornerback Logan Ryan, who put the finishing touches on Tennessee’s wild-card round win over New England back in early January.
With the Patriots backed up to their own 1-yard line with 14 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Ryan snagged a deflected pass, scampered into the end zone and silenced the Gillette Stadium crowd.
But despite ending his 2019 season (and Patriots tenure) on a sour note, Brady still made sure to tip his cap to his former teammate after the game.
“Tom reached out to me after the game on Instagram,” Ryan said Thursday on NFL Network, as transcribed by 247Sports. “He DMed me and said ‘congrats.’ He’s happy for me. He hated that it had to happen to him. Why couldn’t I drop both of (my interception chances)? Why did I have to catch one? We’ve got a great relationship. It’s all love in the game. He’s a great competitor and he respects me for my play. But that’s just something I had to do to help us win. That ball is on a mantle. My kids play with a lot of my interception balls laying around. But that one, they can’t touch. That one’s on my mantle.”
While the veteran cornerback surely will never forget that interception, it’s likely in the rear-view mirror for Brady, who’s set to embark on a new chapter with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New beginnings also await Ryan, who reportedly is drawing interest from a pair of AFC East teams in free agency.
