Sometimes, you just have to tip your cap.
Nick Wright has been FS1’s version of Max Kellerman when it comes to doubting Tom Brady in recent years, constantly questioning just how much the quarterback has left in the tank.
Well, even Wright was left shaking his head in disbelief Monday, one day after Brady led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a divisional-round win over Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints at Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Brady, at age 43, will play in his 14th conference championship game Sunday when the Bucs visit the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
“Seeing Brady juxtaposed with Brees, and seeing what a 40-plus-year-old quarterback is supposed to look like, a la Drew Brees, and seeing Tom Brady still just ticking along, not making any huge mistakes in his 14th conference championship game, it’s half maddening and half marvelous,” Wright said on FS1’s “First Things First.”
This isn’t the first time Wright, a Kansas City Chiefs fan, has had to eat his words with regards to Brady, formerly of the New England Patriots. We’re just two years removed from Brady and the Patriots upsetting Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium en route to defeating the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII.
Still, Wright thought for sure Brady was toast after last year’s playoffs, when the six-time Super Bowl champion threw a pick-six on his final pass with the Patriots. Yet here we are, with Brady, a six-time champion, one win away from reaching the Super Bowl for the 10th time.
“It’s remarkable. I have to give the man credit. It is remarkable that he’s still out there,” Wright said Monday. “Was he great (Sunday)? No. Was he the big reason they won? No. But he wasn’t the reason they lost. And once again, he’s in the final four.
“If you had told me five years ago that Tom Brady would still be playing, I’d say, ‘Get out of here.’ … So yeah, I guess I was wrong. Because he’s still playing. He’s somehow still playing.”
Still playing. And still winning.
