QBs Brady & Burrow Share Mutual Respect, Adversity

“He gets the ball out really fast. He understands what he’s looking at. I think he epitomizes toughness at the quarterback position. And he’s a great leader. I mean, he’s the greatest of all time for a reason. He’s the total package.”

With Burrow’s admiration of Brady laid out, how is this reciprocated? Well, game respects game. On Thursday, Brady spoke about the talent of his counterpart.

“He’s done a great job,” Brady said. He’s a great young player. He’s got a great arm, runs well, very athletic.”

Of course, the talent of each of them is obvious when watching games, highlights, or reading the box score. But another striking similarity between the two is that each has faced great adversity on their journeys to being franchise quarterbacks.

Brady, Burrow Have Overcame Adversity

Brady spoke on this further talking about Burrow.

“I’m really impressed by him overcoming the adversities that he has. There were high expectations for him coming out, and he’s lived up to it.” 

Expectations were high for Burrow as the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft, but it has never been easy for him, going back to his college days. 

Burrow redshirted in 2015 at Ohio State, then spent 2016 and 2017 as a backup. It wasn’t until his transfer to LSU in 2018 that things began to take shape. He showed promise in 2018 but exploded in 2019. That season, he completed 76.3% of his passes, throwing for 5,671 yards and 60 touchdowns. He would cap off LSU’s season with a National Championship victory over the Clemson Tigers.

The stats were off the charts, and his performance and intangibles made it easy for the Bengals to select him with the top pick. This would not be a story of instant greatness, far from it. 

He played in 10 games his rookie year, having solid numbers as a rookie but suffering a gruesome injury in Week 11. Burrow would tear the ACL and MCL in his left knee and face the grueling challenges of bouncing back and guiding his team to a quick turnaround. 

That would be just what he would do in 2021, improbably leading them on a Super Bowl run before just falling short to the Rams. He has overcome years of doubt being a backup in college, recovering from a brutal injury, and successfully reviving a franchise that has not held the Lombardi Trophy (yet). 

Most already know the tale of Tom Brady. He also spent two years primarily as a backup at Michigan, steadily climbing up their depth chart. He would be far from a top pick, as he was an afterthought being selected 199th in the 2000 NFL Draft.

It took an injury to Drew Bledsoe for him to get an opportunity. Even then, he was not guaranteed to keep his spot when Bledsoe returned. Even after bringing the New England Patriots to prominence, he has faced numerous instances of adversity. 

After having a career season in 2007, he tore his ACL in the 2008 season opneer. Since that injury, he has won four Super Bowls. Even in these big moments, it took battling back in games when nearly everyone counted him and his team out, most notably in the 28-3 comeback victory against the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI. 

While one quarterback is just beginning their reign atop the quarterback hierarchy, another is looking to go on one final conquest and conclude the dynasty he has held over the NFL for over two decades. They are in different stages of their career, but both share the intriguing context of how circumstances have shaped them along the way. 

As their paths cross on Sunday, the Bucs are looking to turn their season around and get on a late-season run. 

Now in Week 15, this resides in the players on the field wanting it for themselves.

“We’ve got to come together, and we’ve got to do it ourselves. I really appreciate what [head coach] Todd [Bowles] is doing. He’s putting it on us to fix it, and that’s what our responsibility is to do.”