When Ex-Patriots Exec Thought Tom Brady Was Reaching End Of His Career

Tom Brady has been proving a lot of people wrong for a long time.

Put the success in the Super Bowls aside (difficult, we know), but his longevity has been impressive. And not just longevity, but effectiveness too, as he continues to succeed well into his 40s.

As far back as the mid-2010s, it seemed like the possibility was nearing that Brady would essentially be forced into retirement. But time and time again he defied Father Time.

So, interestingly, former Patriots executive Mike Lombardi revealed that when he went to New England in 2014, he thought he was arriving in the twilight of Brady’s career.

“I got to be frank with you,” Lombardi said Friday on Radio.com. “In 2014 when I first went to New England I was worried, I was really worried that Tom was at the end. His yards per attempt was way down. He wasn’t really holding the ball, making the throws that you have to make in the NFL where you have to hold that ball that last split second. So I was worried, we drafted Jimmy Garoppolo that draft.”

To be fair, Lombardi is not the only one to misread that situation. Especially with the way the 2014 campaign began for the Patriots, a lot of people were hopping off the bandwagon.

Well, now he’s about to play in the Super Bowl on Sunday for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.