On the 2021 NFL schedule, there'sĀ one game every fan has circled on their calendar: Tom Brady's return to Foxboro.
Brady and the reigning champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers will visit the New England Patriots for a Week 4 showdown at Gillette Stadium. It'll mark the 43-year-old quarterback'sĀ first time taking on his former team since he left in free agency a year ago.
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For the most part, Brady has kept quiet about the anticipated Bucs-Patriots matchup. He did, however, speakĀ about the homecomingĀ during a SiriusXM Town Hall event hosted by Jim Gray.
āThereās a lot to happen between now and then, and obviously I know the challenge of beating a great team like that, a great organization, great players, so many friends that are still on the team that still are my brothers,ā BradyĀ said, as transcribed by Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald. āUnfortunately, weāre going to be on different sides of the stadium this time around.
āIāve got a lot of familiarity playing in the stadium. You know, weāve got to first get to training camp and see where weāre going to be and then get through the first three weeks of the year, but Iām sure itāll be a great opportunity for me to go back to a place I know as well as anyone. Itāll be a great day for football.ā
Indeed it will be.
New England Patriots
Brady, of course, is no stranger to playing on the big stage. Throughout his 21-year NFL career, the seven-time Super Bowl champ has gotten used to the anticipation that precedes marquee matchups.
āIām not naive to the fact thereās some marquee games you always look at over the course of the season, a matchup of places guys have been versus where theyāre at now,ā Brady told Gray. āYou know, brothers playing one another, or former Super Bowl teams going ā when we played the Giants in the regular season, it always felt like it was a little more when I was with the Patriots. So, naturally, thereās just more buildup, but at the end of the day, itās going to be a game where weāre going to prepare like weāve been preparing."
We're going to go out on a limb and say there's just a bit more excitement leading up to Brady's return to New England than any other regular-season game in his career. Still, you can bet Brady will be preparing for the Oct. 3 event like any other game on the schedule.
You can listen to Brady's full interview when the town hall premieres July 21 at 6 p.m. ET onĀ SiriusXMāsĀ Mad Dog Sports Radio.