Tom Brady had a bit of a flashback Friday.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback and his new team were put through the paces for a scrimmage at Raymond James Stadium. It obviously was a crucial session for the Bucs, as the regular season is rapidly approaching, and the tune-up process is far different this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on the preseason.
Friday's scrimmage was meant to replicate all aspects of gameday -- apparently including an out-of-town scoreboard -- and the Bucs felt the need to play simulated crowd noise.
After the scrimmage, Brady couldn't help but tweak an old rival when talking about about the pumped-in noise.
"I thought it was one of the Colts' old tapes when they used to pump all that sound into the RCA Dome," Brady said on a video call with reporters, referring to games the Patriots played in Indianapolis. "I was telling (quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen) he must have pulled that one out his basement for this practice."
(Chistensen, by the way, spent more than a decade with the Colts.)
The crowd-noise factor is actually an interesting facet of the 2020 NFL season. With no fans in the stands, at least to start the season, pumped-in crowd noise will be the norm. However, there's quite a difference between the artificial noise and the actual sounds that come from a stadium full of fans.
"We had a great time with it. Again, it's something to get used to. That definitely has challenges," Brady explained. "If that's how loud it's going to be, that's going to be tough for everybody. The communication is tough, and you don't have a down moment. You're screaming the whole day to people on the sideline, which is very unique to a game because usually it ebbs and flows. With that pumped-in crowd noise, it doesn't ebb and flow -- it just flows. We're gonna have to get used to that. I'm gonna have to draw on my earlier days."
Then, the ever-careful Brady offered a quick clarification.
"That was a joke everybody, just want to make that clear."
Tampa Bay will begin its season Sept. 13 in the typically rowdy Mercedes-Benz Superdome in a must-see NFC South matchup against Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints.
