Forget 50. As Long As The Atlanta Falcons Are Around, Tom Brady Can Play Forever

Let’s gaze into the NFL crystal ball: It’s the year 2027, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. is spending the early part of the season pushing his career record against the Atlanta Falcons to 21-0 as the No. 1 guy on the Forbes’ list for the world’s highest-paid athletes in total earnings.

Oh, I’m sorry.

Brady was correct last week when he told Rob Gronkowski during their “Tommy & Gronky” YouTube video “I think it’s a yes” after he was asked by his Buccaneers teammate, frequent touchdown partner at tight end and best friend if he has the ability to play in the NFL until he’s 50.

He’ll play until he’s 50. This future Pro Football Hall of Famer better known as Tom Brady, or The GOAT (The Greatest Of All Time), if you prefer, is only 44 right now. He also is only ninth on the Forbes list for the world’s highest-paid athletes in total earnings at $76 million.

Even so, Brady will sprint to No. 1 when all of the folks currently ahead of him (Conor McGregor, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Dak Prescott, LeBron James, Neymar, Roger Federer and Lewis Hamilton) are retired six years from now while Brady continues to do Brady things.

On Sunday in Tampa, Brady resumed his habit of torturing the Falcons, and yes, I know. He has been the bogeyman of many NFL teams during his 22 seasons (20 with the New England Patriots before joining the Buccaneers) producing seven Super Bowl rings, including one earlier this year.

The fifth of Brady’s rings came after the 2016 season, when he rallied the Patriots from a 28-3 deficit near the end of the third quarter for the most improbable world championship in the history of sports.

That was against . . . um.

The Falcons.

This time, with those Dirty Birds across the way preparing to become as extinct as Dodo Birds again courtesy of Brady, he completed 24 of 38 passes for 276 yards and five of the easiest touchdowns you’ll ever see during a 48-25 victory to push his Buccaneers to 2-0 and his personal record against the Falcons to 9-0.

Now back to that NFL crystal ball: Brady crushes this particularly bad Falcons team (0-2 after losing by 26 and 23 points to start the season) again when he comes to Atlanta in December. Then he beats the Buccaneers’ NFC South foes during each of the two times they play yearly through the 2026 season. After that, early during the 2027 season, the quinquagenarian handles the Falcons again.

Just like that, you have Brady’s 21-0 record against the Falcons within a couple of months after his 50th birthday that August 3. Who knows how many more Vince Lombardi trophies Brady will wrap his fingers around between now and then?

Here’s what we do know: Brady looks 24 instead of 44, and he shows zero signs of digressing on the field. With much help from his right arm of efficiency, quicker-than-you-think legs and mind that deciphers the counter to your counter on defense in nanoseconds, the Buccaneers scored 30-plus points in a victory Sunday for an NFL-record ninth consecutive time.

That streak began in December against . . .

The Falcons.

Brady also led Patriots offenses in 2007 and 2010 that held the previous record of eight straight games of 30-plus points in a victory.

As for this season, Brady took the Buccaneers to an NFL-opening night victory of 31-29 in Tampa over the Dallas Cowboys. He threw for 379 yards and four touchdowns. So, with nine TDs overall, he is the oldest quarterback ever to lead the league in touchdown passes after two weeks.

Brady and his model wife, Gisele Bundchen, attribute much of their energy to transcendental meditation, and he has his famous diet, you know. He gave details of his eating habits in his 2017 book called “The TB12 Method,” and the majority of the pages emphasized his consumption of water and vegetables.

In January, Brady told menshealth.com that he will cheat on his diet here and there, but he added, “If I’m craving bacon, I have a piece. Same with pizza. You should never restrict what you really want. We’re humans, here for one life. What’s changed as I’ve gotten older is now if I want pizza, I want the best pizza. I don’t eat a slice that tastes like (crap) and then wonder, ‘Why am I eating (crap) pizza?'”

That said, during Brady’s quest to play at 50, he mostly eats roasted vegetables while drinking water filled with electrolytes, exercises regularly and prays to the football gods that the Atlanta Falcons never leave the face of the earth.