“Tom Brady’s just about done,” said ESPN’s First Take co-host Max Kellerman on July 28th, 2016. “It could be his next game he plays, it could be a year from now. But he is going to fall off a cliff.” Kellerman would then complete this infamous rant by adding, “Tom Brady is going to be a bum in short order.”
We are just a month away from reaching the third year anniversary of this proclamation. In the first year after Kelerman’s remark, Brady did not have a memorable year. He only won the Super Bowl and MVP of the game after coming back from down 25 points late in the third quarter.
The next year was okay for Brady. He won the MVP at 40 and made it to another Super Bowl where he threw for over 500 yards in a losing effort.
In 2018, the 41 year old led his team to another Super Bowl championship, the 6th of his illustrious career. Not a big deal.
Let’s recap. In his three seasons since Kellerman stated he was “going to be a fall off a cliff”, Brady has won two Super Bowls and been to another. He has one regular season MVP and one Super Bowl MVP. He has thrown for 89 touchdowns and 12,486 yards. If that is being a bum, I could only imagine what his prime must have been like.
Now, Brady prefers not to talk about specific media members or quotes criticizing his play. He would much rather prove them wrong on the field. However, Thursday, Brady took a shot at Kellerman’s almost three year old comments.
On his Instagram Story, Brady had a radar gun clocked in at 61 miles per hour. He captioned the post with “He’s Gonna Fall Off a Cliff” followed by a football and a thinking face emoji.
This could prove to be an interesting peek into Brady’s competitive fire. We have all heard this story before, as 198 players (including six quarterbacks) were taken ahead of him. He has been honest about still wanting to earn the right to be the starting quarterback for the New England Patriots.
But when it comes to media criticism, how much does Brady check in? He definitely does have people in his circle, professionally and socially, who listen. They might pay attention so he can truly block out the noise and focus on the task at hand.
However, Brady is a human being. At least, I’m fairly certain he is. For anyone to hear someone say that your skills are depleting and you are not good enough anymore will light anybody’s fire. Especially for one of the greatest most successful athletes this country has ever produced.
Brady taking a little shot at Kellerman shows how confident he is in himself and his abilities. He is ready for another NFL season, even though he will be 42 the next time he jogs onto Gillette’s turf.
Photo Courtesy of AP
Follow Chad on Twitter @shutupchadjones
