Tom Brady has said he “love(s)” watching Aaron Rodgers play ahead of the two veteran quarterbacks facing each other on Sunday.
It will be the third time since signing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that Brady has gone head-to-head with Rodgers, with the Bucs defeating the Green Bay Packers in the teams’ two previous meetings – including in the 2021 NFC Championship.
“He’s an amazing player, has been for a long time,” Brady told reporters when asked about facing Rodgers, with whom he partnered on the golf course earlier this year for The Match.
“I love watching him play, and he’s from California, too, so I feel like we always have a little bit of a connection.
“He’s an older guy now. He’s been a great player in the same place for a long time. There definitely are some challenges with that, but he’s navigated them pretty well and has done a great job, leads the team. They’ve won a lot of games since he’s been there.”
Brady’s Tampa Bay is 2-0 on the season, largely thanks to the team’s strong defense, having recorded wins against the Dallas Cowboys and the New Orleans Saints at the start of the 2022 NFL season.
Even though results have gone his way, Brady has hinted that he’s “close to the end” of his NFL career having already returned from retirement earlier this year.
Earlier this week, Brady also revealed he had given his seven Super Bowl championship rings – six of which he’s won with the New England Patriots – to a friend who was arranging for them to be displayed at a museum in Qatar during the 2022 World Cup.
Brady said on his ‘Let’s Go!’ podcast on Monday, “I gave them [the seven rings] to a friend of mine who sent them so they can enjoy them in a museum in Qatar. Fans and tourists will be able to enjoy them during the World Cup.”
Asked about it further on Thursday, Brady told reporters: “I had visited Qatar a couple of times and really enjoyed it. There’s a great sports museum there.
“I wanted to allow a lot of the people that are going to be there to be able to see American football and the impact it’s had on all of our lives and how great of a sport it is. For them to see kind of what we play for, I thought, would be a really cool thing.”