Tom Brady might have won seven Super Bowls in his illustrious playing career, but that hasn’t prevented him from having memories that still haunt him in retirement.
Ahead of calling Sunday’s Bears-Vikings game at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Brady was reminded about one of his three Super Bowl losses in the latest edition of “Story Time with Tom.” US Bank Stadium was the scene where Brady and the Patriots fell to the Eagles in Super Bowl LI, when Philadelphia infamously used the “Philly Special” to score a touchdown before Brandon Graham stripped-sacked Brady late in the fourth quarter.
“Any time that I see a trick play from the Eagles, it’s heartbreaking for me,” Brady said as he recalled what happened in Super Bowl LII. “Any time I see a trick play from the Eagles, I get PTSD — and that’s not fun when you’re a broadcaster calling the game.”
The Eagles used the “Philly Special” late in the first half of that game when facing a fourth-and-goal right before halftime, with running back Corey Clement taking a direct snap before throwing a 1-yard touchdown pass to quarterback Nick Foles for a touchdown to take a 22-12 lead. Philadelphia also used the “Philly Special” after New England dialed up a similar play earlier in the game, with wide receiver Danny Amendola throwing the ball to Brady. However, Brady dropped Amendola’s pass.
New England turned the ball over on downs following Brady’s dropped pass. However, that sequence and the “Philly Special” weren’t enough to end the Patriots’ Super Bowl hopes. In the fourth quarter, Brady and the Patriots got the ball with just over two minutes remaining and had the opportunity to take the lead. But Graham strip-sacked Brady on the second play of the drive, with the Eagles kicking a field goal on the ensuing possession to take an eight-point lead.
Brady and the Patriots wound up losing Super Bowl LII, 41-33, when his Hail Mary fell incomplete on the game’s final play. But Graham’s strip-sack was arguably the biggest punch that delivered the knockout blow, and Brady gets constant reminders of it.
“My guy, Brandon Graham, a fellow Wolverine, has a Wolverine-on-Wolverine crime, strip sacks me in the fourth quarter, we’re going down, we have a chance to go ahead and win the game — which would’ve been an unbelievable moment,” Brady said. “[We] dug ourselves out of a gap, and he comes via the road of scrimmage and knocks the ball out of my hand simply as I am on the brink of throw the ball away, and it finally ends up being a fumble.
“Now, there’s a number of instances the place I have been standing on the sphere at [Lincoln Financial Field] within the final two years, and he is come from behind and he pretends that he is strip-sacking me. It is not humorous, Brandon!”
Brandon Graham strip-sacked Tom Brady on the Patriots’ penultimate drive of Tremendous Bowl LII. (Picture by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire through Getty Photos)
Graham received his first of two Tremendous Bowls in that recreation, serving to the Eagles win Tremendous Bowl LIX final season earlier than retiring. However Graham just lately rejoined Philadelphia, signing a deal in October to assist bolster the Eagles’ cross rush.
As Graham and the Eagles acquired the final snigger over Brady and the Patriots that day, the all-time nice quarterback arguably had one of the best efficiency of his profession in Tremendous Bowl LII. He accomplished 28 of 48 passes for 505 yards and three touchdowns within the Patriots’ loss. However Foles and the Eagles’ offense performed simply as properly, with the quarterback throwing for 373 yards and three touchdowns whereas dashing for 164 yards as a crew.
“That was a crushing defeat for lots of causes,” Brady stated. “We had a reasonably good recreation that day on offense. Regardless that Brandin Cooks acquired knocked out of that recreation fairly early, we actually by no means blinked. We ended up throwing for 500 yards that day. We had three receivers over 100. However this man, Nick Foles, we simply could not gradual him down. They performed nice. I am certain lots of people have been rooting for us to lose.”
That Tremendous Bowl additionally introduced an attention-grabbing problem for Brady and the Patriots. Not like most Tremendous Bowls, the sport was held in a northern metropolis, and the temperatures in Minneapolis that week have been what you’d count on in February.
Nick Foles made the catch Tom Brady wasn’t capable of make in Tremendous Bowl LII (Picture by Streeter Lecka/Getty Photos)
“The temperatures all week have been beneath 10 levels,” Brady stated. “I do not assume I left my lodge besides to go to apply. Then, I’d come house from apply and I’d lay on my mattress and let the solar come via the window as a result of it was the one warmth I felt all week.”
“I’ve all the time stated, there may very well be a number of distractions throughout Tremendous Bowl week as a result of all of the households come into city and everybody desires to do issues,” Brady added. “However what was actually distracting is when it is 10 levels outdoors and no one has anyplace to go. So, all we did was sit across the lodge the entire time ready for the sport to occur.”
Brady and the Patriots have been capable of avenge that Tremendous Bowl loss a yr later, defeating the Rams in Tremendous Bowl LIII for his or her sixth title and second in three years. Nonetheless, the Tremendous Bowl losses appear to stay with Brady as a lot because the wins do, particularly when Philadelphia followers are concerned.
“In some methods, that was one of the vital memorable losses as a result of I get reminded of it on a regular basis, once I go cowl these Philadelphia Eagles video games and all of the followers cheer me on,” Brady stated. “In one other approach, it was very heartbreaking.
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