Tom Brady’s competitive spirit fueled a lot of victories over the course of his 20 seasons with New England, but the Patriots have been on the wrong side of it as well.
Speaking with Dan Patrick on Tuesday, Devin McCourty shared a story from when Brady visited Gillette Stadium for the first time as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021.
“It was fun competing against him last year when we played Tampa, I think early in October,” McCourty said. “Late in the game — when you play Brady, you’ve got to be on it. You’ve got to be smart and your strategy has to be on point.
“So at some point late in the game we decide to go into an all-out blitz. And he got us a little bit with the snap count. So as he’s sitting there, he’s smiles at us, knowing what’s coming. He completes a pass to (Cameron) Brate and I’m running down on him. And as soon as he completes the pass moving backward he goes, ‘Come on Dev, Blitz 0? You think I’m not going to know that?’ And starts laughing.”
Praise around New England has been effusive for Brady since he departed in 2020, especially around the time of that game. His Patriots coaches and teammates have unfortunately come to know what life is like without him, feeling the brunt of his trademark fire firsthand.
