Tom Brady’s playing days are over, but the winning mentality that defined his astonishing career most certainly remains.
While covering the Dallas Cowboys’ defeat to the Baltimore Ravens from the FOX announcers’ booth in Week 3, seven-time Super Bowl champion gave a detailed breakdown of his most iconic comeback – the New England Patriots’ miraculous recovery against the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI seven years ago. The Pats trailed 28-3 in the third quarter but staged an incredible revival to force overtime and eventually claim victory.
With the Cowboys in a similar situation at AT&T stadium, trailing 28-6 after Derrick Henry found the endzone early in the third quarter, Brady was asked by broadcast partner Kevin Burkhardt to explain how New England pieced together the most improbable of fightbacks.
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His answer was oozing with passion, showing the mental strength that made him the most successful player of his generation by a huge margin.
Brady said: “At that moment [trailing 28-3], I was sitting on the sidelines saying ‘Let’s just get one touchdown’ and we got one. And then we said ‘You know what, we’ve got to get one stop’ and we got a stop on defense, drove the ball down the field. Ended up kicking a field goal.
“So we’re down 28-12 and I look at the scoreboard and I said ‘It’s a two-score game. Come on D, we need one play’. And we get the strip sack from [Dont’a] Hightower, knocks the ball off Matt Ryan.
Brady inspired a remarkable comeback to defeat the Atlanta Falcons at Super Bowl LI (
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
“We got the ball, went down the field and scored. Got the two-point [conversion] and it’s a one-score game. So those little plays that snowball, you go from 28-3, which is 25 points, to ‘Oh wow, two-score game’.”
Ultimately, the Cowboys’ comeback attempt fell short. The Ravens were on course for a dominant victory, leading by 22 points near the midway point of the fourth quarter. But Dallas QB Dak Prescott narrowed the deficit with a one-yard rushing touchdown before the Cowboys had the first successful onside kick recovery of the season.
A little more than seven minutes were on the clock when a 15-yard touchdown pass from Prescott to Jalen Tolbert made the score 28-18. And it did not take long for the Cowboys to get the ball back, with Prescott hitting Kavonte Turpin in the endzone with two minutes and 53 seconds on the clock, making it a three-point game.
But that was the last time the Cowboys got their hands on the ball, with Lamar Jackson producing two clutch third-down conversions to help the Ravens hold on for victory, improving to 1-2 on the season.
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers signal-caller Brady will return to Raymond James Stadium on Sunday to call the Bucs showdown with the Philadelphia Eagles. It will be the 47-year-old’s fourth game in the booth since starting a 10-year, $375 million broadcasting contract with FOX.
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