We are just days away from yet another New England Patriots NFL season with Tom Brady at the starting quarterback position. Yet, as he enters his 19th season, many people question what is still motivating the 41-year-old quarterback. The legendary quarterback has had the odds stacked against him several times. But he very well may be facing his toughest deck yet.
All offseason the media and fans questioned the animosity going on within the Patriots locker room and questioned whether Rob Gronkowski would retire or not. Neither showed up for optional OTA’s but that is also something that is entirely unusual for the two-star players. Brady found himself continuously questioned all offseason and just to make matters worse, he saw his wide receiver corps quickly get depleted.
Julian Edelman is facing a four-game suspension to start off the year which means Brady will be without his most trusted wide receiver and quite easily one of his most trusted. This even led to questions involving Alex Guerrero and the infamous “TB12 method.” Brandin Cooks was traded to the Los Angeles Rams and Danny Amendola decided to go the Miami Dolphins. On top of this, Dion Lewis left to the Titans while Nate Soldier signed with the Giants. All of this has led to Tom Brady dealing with one of his more mediocre groups of weapons outside of Rob Gronkowski.
Jimmy Garoppolo signed a 5-year contract worth a maximum of 137.5 million dollars in the offseason after winning five straight games last season and making many people question the decision to trade the young up and coming quarterback. All these factors have led to one thing for Tom Terrific. Pressure. Pressure is one thing that has historically never truly affected Brady, but the odds are certainly stacked against him going into this season.
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No quarterback in the history of the league has had a successful season after the age of 40. Brett Favre and Brady are the only two to have the type of seasons they had at 40. However, it has never happened at 41 which has now led to questions on whether father time will finally catch up with the quarterback. Moreover, the Patriots start the season against two very good AFC opponents in the Houston Texans and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
There have been plenty of times throughout his career that Brady has dealt with difficult odds going into an NFL season. However, these may be the toughest ones to date. He has met every challenge he has ever faced. But in order to overcome these challenges, he will need to do things that have never been done in NFL history. Yet, that hasn’t ever stopped Brady before, has it?
