As you may have heard, Sunday night’s showdown between the Patriots and Buccaneers at Gillette Stadium will mark the greatest age difference between starting quarterbacks in NFL history. New England rookie Mac Jones is 21 years and 33 days younger than reigning Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady, who, on Sunday, will look to accomplish a career first by defeating the Patriots, the only team in the NFL he has yet to beat (mostly because he’s never played them).
Brady, who spent the first 20 years of his career in New England before defecting to Tampa Bay last offseason, has more in common with Jones than you might think. In fact, as discovered by Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk on NBC Sports, Brady made his first collegiate start on September 5, 1998, which just so happens to be the day Jones was born. Brady threw for 267 scoreless yards (though he did rush for a touchdown) in a losing effort that day as the visiting Wolverines dropped their season opener to 22nd-ranked Notre Dame, led by a 162-yard eruption from senior running back Autry Denson.
That’s right—Jones wasn’t even alive for Brady’s first two seasons at Michigan and was probably crawling around in Pampers a year and a half later when New England (after an excruciating wait) finally called Brady’s name, announcing him as the 199th pick of the 2000 NFL Draft. The rest is history.
Speaking of history, Sunday’s record age gap—bettering the previous mark set last year when Brady went toe to toe with Chargers rookie Justin Herbert—won’t stand for long with Tampa Bay slated to visit the Jets, quarterbacked by Zach Wilson (exactly 22 years Brady’s junior), later this season.
Brady and the defending champs enter Sunday’s game as seven-point road favorites against the Patriots, who have yet to win at home this season (0-2). Remarkably, Jones and Brady, neither of whom are particularly fleet of foot, both led their team in rushing yards last week. Already the NFL’s career touchdown leader (591), Brady needs just 68 yards to pass Drew Brees for the most all-time, a milestone he will assuredly reach (barring injury) in his return to Foxboro Sunday night.
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