Cardinals Appreciate Tom Brady's Dominance Ahead of Christmas Day Battle
The Arizona Cardinals are set to do a few things later tonight.
The team looks to stop a four-game losing streak in what will be their fourth Christmas Day appearance. It's also their last home game of the regular season at State Farm Stadium.
Who could forget that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will trot out Tom Brady, widely considered to be the greatest of all time at his position.
No further introduction is needed for a guy like that. Despite being 6-8, the Buccaneers lead the NFC South and are very much in the playoff hunt.
Still needing wins to close out the season, there's no doubts Brady has been preparing like a madman for this matchup.
Kliff Kingsbury, who spent a year backing up Brady in New England, knows very well that's the case. Forget the Michael Jordan-like mentality, though. Kingsbury pointed to how helpful he was as a teammate.
“He was awesome. I think you can see the friendships that he’s had over the years," Kingsbury told reporters earlier this week.
"He’s been good to all those guys and that’s why whether it’s (Former Patriots QB Matt) Cassel, ‘Jimmy G’ (49ers QB), or (Browns QB Jacoby) Brissett, he definitely tries to mentor them and work with him. He was phenomenal and every guy that’s gone through there I think would say the same thing.”
Of course, when talking about Brady, you can't forget how hard he works:
"I think watching him work and how almost maniacal he was about it, that that's what it takes at that position to be that good,"
The Cardinals will be without their top two choices at quarterback in Kyler Murray and Colt McCoy, leaving Trace McSorley up to task on Christmas Day.
McSorley, like anybody else in his shoes, is appreciative of the moment.
“Yeah. I’m definitely excited about that. He’s the G.O.A.T. and there’s no two ways to put that, but I’ve just got to focus on what I can control," he said.
"I’m going against their defense, not against him, so that’s kind of the way I try and look at it. But is cool to kind of look back and realize that I’m starting against him the first time.”
Oddly enough, Brady is just 1-1 against the Cardinals in his career. A win against Tampa Bay would make Arizona the lone NFL team that has a winning record against him.
That just shows how great - and long - Brady has dominated the league's landscape. So long in fact that McSorley's first Super Bowl memory is of Brady playing.
“One of the first Super Bowls I remember as a kid was him against the Eagles. I want to say that was ‘02 or ’03, something like that. That was one of the first Super Bowls I remember sitting down and really being into the game and watching it, as opposed to just being a kid running around on Super Bowl night having fun," McSorley said.
"His record and his career speaks for itself. I think there’s not much else you can say about that. Everything he’s done, he’s the G.O.A.T.”
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