Tom Brady Pays Tribute to Jerry Rice & Credits 49ers for Inspiring His Longevity

In his 23-year NFL career, Brady started 333 regular-season games. And in a league like the NFL, you don’t survive that many starts without enduring pain.

Many presumed his obsession to keep at it, the fact that he played over five times longer than the average playing career of a quarterback, came from a place of arrogance. But that certainly is not how Brady sees it.

“I spent some time with Jerry Rice recently, which is always a little surreal having grown up in the Bay Area idolizing his Niners team,” explained Brady in his latest edition of the 199 newsletter. “We got to talking about our careers as guys who played longer than anyone else at our respective positions, and Jerry said something that really resonated with me. The thing that kept him going all those years at such a high level was the desire to never let his teammates down.

“I felt the exact same way. It’s what motivated me for 23 seasons and what drove me to prep, practice, and play the way I did every day. More than money, more than accolades, more even than winning when I really step back to think about it.”

In the 2002 AFC championship game, for instance, the Patriots led the Pittsburgh Steelers 7-3 just a couple of minutes before halftime. On a 3rd-and-9 play, Steelers’ safety, Lee Flowers, dove right into Brady’s knee after the QB threw the ball. For New England, just one game and seven days away from a Super Bowl appearance, Brady, leaving the gridiron with an injury, gave the chills that hardly needed detailing. Nevertheless, the No. 12 suited up just as routine and brought the franchise its first-ever Super Bowl. 

For Tom Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl winner, three-time NFL MVP, and five-time Super Bowl MVP, the reasoning hit home. Rice’s accolades are similarly unparalleled: three Super Bowls with San Francisco, 13 Pro Bowls, two Offensive Player of the Year awards, and essentially every notable receiving record in NFL history.

But the most important part was that through his 20-year storied career, Rice, too, played for his teammates and not the glory that came with success. Case in point, the 1997 San Francisco 49ers season: In the opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Rice fell and tore ligaments in his left knee. It was his very first major injury in 13 years in the NFL already. But after the surgery, he returned to the gridiron because he knew his team needed him. However, in the 34-17 win over Denver, Rice went in for a touchdown catch to put up the first score on the board for the Niners. But he fell down and tore his left kneecap and eventually had to miss the season.

For Brady, as someone who grew up admiring Rice, that was the only path to follow. To support his team, Brady downplayed multiple injuries, including concussions and ligament tears. Of course, he couldn’t stay away from the game for long either. But at the end of the day, his team winning and New England’s hope mattered the most to him. How can we forget Brady’s torn ACL in 2008? In the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs, Brady was tackled hard and tore his ACL. And that meant that his season ended before starting. He still wanted to continue and asked his HC, Bill Belichick, that he would tape his knee to brace it and return before the season ended.

Just days after his surgery, he actually even returned to the practice field for some throws. However, his anxiousness resulted in an infection, and he had to undergo another surgery. But fast forward to the next season, he was back on the field to help his team. Even as a 43-year-old in 2020, he started all 20 total games for the Bucs with a torn MCL. He threw for 40 TDs in the regular season, 10 in the playoffs, and won his seventh Super Bowl and fifth SB MVP that year.

So, if we see, both Rice and Brady are GOATs, and they have rightly shared mutual respect for each other. In fact, in a Fanatics Fest in June, Brady opened a pack of collectible cards from his rookie season. As soon as Rice’s card appeared, Brady couldn’t hide his elation. With a smile, he said, “Gotta love me a Jerry Rice…… He’s the best receiver of all time.” That’s been the theme of his career: even after many fans crowned him the NFL’s “GOAT”, Brady still shows appreciation to the receiver who inspired him. But the feelings were reciprocated when Rice, too, commented back on the posted video, calling the former Patriots the GOAT.

Rice played 20 years in the NFL and was still a Pro Bowler at age 40. Brady played 23 years and won a Super Bowl with his team at age 43. Both men secured their legacies not only because of talent but because of a devotion to their teams. Brady’s newsletter conveyed that in no-holds-barred terms: “Knowing that I could be a big part of helping to facilitate a childhood dream coming true for a rookie or a professional goal being achieved for a tenured vet, drove me to watch film, work on my footwork, run practice and compete just as hard in year 23 as I did in year 1.

“Being part of something bigger than myself and being accountable to my teammates didn’t just make me want to do the hard work, it made getting up for it easy. It made the work a pleasure, a daily source of joy and satisfaction for its own sake.” It was his team and teammates — the real reason behind Brady’s playing 23 seasons in the NFL, whether it was New England or Tampa Bay.

Both Brady and Rice publicly acknowledged each other’s success. When Brady won his seventh Super Bowl in 2021, Rice passed the ‘GOAT’ torch by publicly celebrating Brady’s victory. “When you got seven rings, you’re doing something right,” Rice said. For Brady, that approval would have been very special. But Rice wasn’t the only Niners player that Brady looked up to.

Joe Montana and Steve Young also played a similar role to Brady. Ironically enough, the entire San Francisco franchise did when they passed on him six times in the 2000 NFL Draft. That neglect provided Brady with a chip on his shoulder that motivated him throughout his life. Statistically, Brady met the standard he admired as a child. In 23 seasons, he threw 649 touchdown passes for 89,214 yards and 251 regular-season victories, redefining quarterback durability. He freely credits the 49ers heroes he admired growing up for planting that unrelenting drive for excellence.