By: Gus Wilson

This past Sunday, on October 3rd, the proclaimed greatest football player of all-time, Tom Brady, entered Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. This wasn’t any normal Sunday Night Football game, however, as it was “The Return”, Brady’s first game back against his former team who he spent 20 years and won 6 super bowls.

As a New England Patriot, Tom Brady was a 3-time NFL MVP, 2-time offensive player of the year, 14-time NFL Pro Bowler, 1-time Comeback Player of the Year, and 6-time Super Bowl Champion. The people of Boston praised Tom Brady all 20 years of his career and he’s already a guaranteed Hall of Famer. However, in 2020, Brady may have made many fans of New England begin to hate him. As a free agent, he left New England to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where in his first year with the team, he won a Super Bowl.

“The Return” was advertised as soon as the schedule for the 2021 NFL Season was released. The game lived up to the hype as well, as during the first half, Tom Brady broke the record for most career passing yards of all time, passing Drew Brees. The back and forth between Brady and rookie quarterback Mac Jones came down to the wire, as the Buccaneers kicked a late field goal to take the lead 19-17, which was eventually the final score as Patriots kicker Nick Folk missed the 56-yard game-winning kick.

The game became the 2nd most-watched Sunday Night game of all time and was an instant classic. After the game, the head coach of the Patriots Bill Belicheck and Tom Brady embraced each other at midfield. The New England Patriots record drops to 1 and 3 after this loss, while the Buccaneers improved to 3 and 1 in the early season.