Not only was Sunday Tom Brady’s return to New England for the first time as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the 44-year-old quarterback also made NFL history.
During the first quarter of Sunday’s game between the New England Patriots and the Buccaneers, Brady made a 28-yard pass to Mike Evans down the field. Originally, the play was marked as a 27-yard pass, then the Buccaneers called a timeout and the referees conferred and moved the spot up, giving Brady the record in quite unceremonious fashion.
Here’s how the record-breaking pass went down, with Brady hitting 80,359 pass yards and eclipsing Drew Brees in the process.
.@TomBrady is now the all-time passing yards leader! #TheReturn
📺: #TBvsNE on NBC
📱: https://t.co/50pf7DlJse pic.twitter.com/p7nLvNJ1ru— NFL (@NFL) October 4, 2021
Coming out of the time out, even the Patriots acknowledged it in the most casual way, with just a graphic on the jumbotron as fans applauded Brady for the milestone.
This was it. Bucs were at the line. They made it a non-event. pic.twitter.com/wkLqiq9D25
— Michael Hurley (@michaelFhurley) October 4, 2021
Very understated moment after Tom Brady surpassed Drew Brees as the NFL's all-time passing leader. The acknowledgement happened extremely quickly: a flash on the jumbotron. Brady burned a timeout. There was some applause. But everyone seemed to want to move on quickly.
— Henry McKenna (@McKennAnalysis) October 4, 2021
Brees was also in attendance as he also congratulated Brady on breaking the record.
Drew Brees applauds Brady as he breaks his record 👏
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/DsSqv6aSLK
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 4, 2021
Even though the Patriots were brisk in their acknowledgement of Brady’s historic moment, the Buccaneers on the other hand recognized the accomplishment with an incredible meme.
¯_(ツ)_/¯ pic.twitter.com/LmvciNemiD
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) October 4, 2021
A casual way to recognize yet another historic moment in Brady’s career, but a fitting one nonetheless.
