The most under-appreciated play of Tom Brady’s career…and it wasn’t even a pass
By Alex Barth, 985TheSportsHub.com
Game winning touchdown passes. Playoff comebacks. A Super Bowl overtime drive. Tom Brady made so many great plays in a Patriots uniform, a ‘Top 10’ list frankly feels like disservice.
When you see a career with that many great plays, it’s easy for history to leave a few behind. I could give you 5,000 words on all the plays we’ve forgotten, but instead let’s focus on just one. It’s not a touchdown pass, it’s not even a pass at all.
No, it’s a one yard scramble that helped launch the NFL’s greatest dynasty and was foreshadowing the career of the greatest quarterback of all time.
I’m talking about this:
It’s an easy play to forget, sandwiched in between the ‘Tuck Rule’ and Adam Viantieri’s game-tying kick in the Snow Bowl. A third-and-10 broken play dive that may have ended up saving the game.
I broke this play down this past summer when I was working for CLNS Media, and you can see that full breakdown by clicking here (I highly recommend it).
Basically, the gist is this. Brady had a number of options on the play, most of which would have likely resulted in a Patriots loss. However, in a split second with the game on the line, he made the right call, which saved the season and sent the team to the first of their six Super Bowl wins.
The highlights will live on forever, but it’s the little things that made Tom Brady the greatest quarterback of all time. This one play, easy to miss in the moment, was a glimpse in the window of the dominance we would see for the next 20 years.
