In a blowout win Sunday night over the Cincinnati Bengals, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady silenced critics and doomsday-sayers who figured the 37-year-old was toast, one season if not weeks away from getting replaced full-time by rookie quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. (For a good time, click on this Twitter search for terms including “Brady” and “end” and “era.”)
The offensive line firmed up, the Patriots exposed the Not Prime Time Bengals, Brady connected on 23-of-35 attempts for 292 yards and two touchdowns, and he got so damn pumped up that this happened:
Now, to the beer chugging: Retired NFL center/guard Ross Tucker and former Brady teammate (2005 and part of 2006) relayed a story about Brady’s legendary competitiveness. Tucker had a lot to say about Brady’s fiery determination in a Sports on Earth column titled “Tom Brady Silences Doubters,” but this one story from 2005 stands out:
We went to a local barbecue place near the stadium in Foxboro after practice one time, and there were two different occasions where Brady’s eyes displayed his trademark fire. The first was when some of the veteran offensive linemen started talking to the rookies about a chugging contest. No big deal for these guys and given that they were fresh out of college, you would think they’d be at the top of their game. I was surprised to see Brady take part. The rookies looked at the seemingly pretty boy quarterback and laughed. I think I snickered myself. We all should’ve known better. I still have never seen anybody chug a beer faster than Tom Brady. You should’ve seen the way he slammed down his cup — it was like he was spiking the ball after a TD. It was hilarious. It was awesome. It was textbook Brady.
The end.