They came in from the front and from the back, two men combining to make a single, all-encompassing battering ram, ready to pulverize their intended target, which happened to be a 44-year-old football player who goes by the name of Tom Brady. The defensive linemen in question, Trey Hendrickson and Joseph Ossai of the Cincinnati Bengals, burst through the protective shell designed to stop them on Saturday, looking take down the Hall of Fame QB, which is what they are supposed to do, of course. Brady’s response? “(He) just folded up like a cheap tent,” said Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians. He did indeed. Brady, the split second he realized that only violent things were going to happen if he remained on his feet and tried to squeeze out a pass, crumbled into nothing on the sixth play of the Bucs’ preseason opener. Brady dropped himself to the ground, a moment before Ossai and Hendrickson spilled over the top of him. Moments later he popped up, headed for the sidelines and stayed there, as the Bucs went on to lose their 2021 NFL preseason opener by a final score of 19-14. If you’re a Tampa Bay fan, it was probably momentarily terrifying to see Brady submerged beneath two giant defenders. For a neutral intrigued by the possibility of Brady going for an absurd eighth Super Bowl ring, it was a little concerning that he was out there to begin with. But more than anything, the snapshot went a fragment of the way toward explaining how the National Football League’s oldest active player has just kept going, with a mixture of a lot of smarts, a little luck and an uncanny intuition for doing whatever it takes to keep playing pro football for what might as well be eternity. A day or so later, a long ways away and in a completely different sport, there was some news about an old-timer who also happens to be a true legend of his craft. Roger Federer is 40, positively youthful compared to Brady, but sharing some significant similarities to the former New England Patriots quarterback who headed to Florida and collected another title. Federer hasn’t necessarily gotten better with age but he’s stuck around masterfully, still very relevant and highly competitive in the sport of tennis for as long as anyone can remember. He’s tied with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic for the most Grand Slam titles ever (20) and won three in four attempts in a glorious spell as recently as 2017 and 2018, while also returning to No. 1 in the world. However, Federer has now revealed he must undergo knee surgery for a third time, admitting he has only a “glimmer of hope” he will be able to resume competitive action once his rehab is complete. “Unfortunately, (doctors) told me for the medium to long term, to feel better, I will need surgery, so I decided to do it,” Federer said on his social media. “I will be on crutches for many weeks and then also out of the game for many months.” Federer is now certain to miss the U.S. Open and while the hope is that this is just a brief farewell for now, it is inevitable that many will question whether it’s goodbye forever. If the Swiss tennis icon decides to hang it up, it will have been an extraordinary career. Heck, he could have quit at any point in the past decade and it still would have been an almighty, historic run. The only sadness is of the selfish type, that tennis may not get to say a proper goodbye to a player worthy of the most fulsome celebration. For quite some time, Brady, Federer and Tiger Woods were spoken about in the same breath. They were sports apostles analogous to each other, possessing not just the ability to keep on going but the willingness to do so as well. In Brady’s case, continuing to play the game was worth risking getting flattened by men like Hendrickson and Ossai, for Federer, worth tirelessly traversing the globe with a young family in tow and for Woods, worth trying to come back from all those back ailments and that persistent discomfort. Woods had his majestic moment, the one that made sticking around worth it, when he won the Masters in 2019. Per reports, he has not played any golf since a car crash earlier this year. As for Federer, for now, we just don’t know. And yet Brady keeps going, dodging injury despite playing a game of brutal physicality where the dangers don’t just come from the aging effects on the body but also the malevolent intent of opponents. Much is made of his healthy diet, but the mental fuel that comes from within may be more powerful than all those expensive nutrients. The longer he goes on, the less tempting it is to believe Brady is starting a trend of 40-something QBs and more that he’s one man doing outstanding things for an amount of time that escapes all logic. Even LeBron James is facing question marks about how much longer he can be the NBA’s alpha and he’s eight years younger than Brady. Brady doesn’t just hang around but enters the new season as a reigning champion and an absolute X-Factor. He won’t occupy the top spot when the NFL’s Top 100 list is finalized before the start of the season because, technically, structurally, Xs-and-Os speaking, Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers can do more things. But Brady wins and just keeps winning, the pursuit of more triumph part of his reason for being. He has somehow avoided all the pitfalls, all the obstacles, all the doubts. He’s avoided them in a lot of different ways, with an unshakeable mentality and yep, lots of sleep, water and vegetables, but also by being swift minded enough and not too proud to throw up the white flag when angry defenders burst into the pocket in a preseason game. “Smart as hell,” Arians added, describing the weekend sack. Keep the descriptors coming, because there’s a lot to choose from, a never-ending supply of cliches to put with the name of an athlete who is the opposite of a cliché – a one of a kind. Smart as hell, old as time, fit as a fiddle and wouldn’t you know it, still alive and kicking and ready for a season of NFL football. Still doing it, still chasing it, upturning the usual rules and making the impossible seem possible – well, kind of – because it’s only possible for him. Here’s what others have said … John McEnroe, Former American Tennis Player (On Roger Federer): “We hope that he’s able to play as long as he wants to play. He’s sort of like our Tom Brady. You look at these older guys, they’re inspiring people like Roger certainly.’’ Roger Federer, Professional Tennis Player: “I want to give myself a glimmer of hope to return to the Tour in some shape or form.’’ Colin Cowherd, The Herd (On Tom Brady): “This story is hard to wrap your arms around… He’s aging in reverse. I can’t explain it either.’’ |
