Patriots fans sing 'Happy Birthday' to Tom Brady, who's now oldest non-kicker in NFL
Wednesday is Tom Brady’s birthday and the quarterback, finally free from the legal chains of Deflategate, gets to celebrate in the best possible place (for him): the Patriots’ practice field.
What do you get the man who has everything, assuming that “reduced suspension” isn’t on the table? How about a song from Pats fans?
Brady got one Wednesday morning, with a group of fans singing him “Happy Birthday” during training camp.
The wildest thing about Touchdown Tom turning 39 years old in August of 2016? He’s now the oldest non-kicker in the entire NFL.
There are only a small group of players who are currently older than Brady or were older during the 2015 season. Kicker and old pal Adam Vinatieri (43), kicker Matt Bryant (40), kicker Phil Dawson (40), quarterback Matt Hasselbeck (40), tight end/long snapper Mike Leach (39), punter Shane Lechler (39), quarterback Peyton Manning (39) and defensive back Charles Woodson (39).
Leach, Manning and Woodson all retired after the 2015 season, leaving Brady as the oldest non-kicker type in the entire league. Kickers and punters are people too, but it’s obviously much harder to age gracefully as a quarterback than it is a kicker. No one should debate that.
And yet Brady is about to embark on a season where he will likely play 12 games at the age of 39 with high expectations. Thirty-nine is not a good age for quarterbacks historically, but Brady played so well at the age of 38 it’s not hard to imagine another MVP-caliber season for the Patriots legend.
Brady threw a ridiculous 36 touchdowns last year, nearly pulling off the football equivalent of shooting his age. He threw for 4,770 yards, the fourth-highest total of his distinguished career. His 2015 season wasn’t that much worse than his record-breaking 2007 season.
In short, Brady is a medical marvel of football science, with the only thing capable of slowing him down at his age is an asinine four-game suspension.