Tom Brady following other great quarterbacks who tried to keep legendary careers alive
Following Tom Brady’s announcement of leaving the New England Patriots, find out other pro football players who switched teams at the end of their careers.
Tom Brady reportedly agreed in principle to a deal to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Tuesday, hours after he announced he would not be returning to the New England Patriots after 20 seasons.
Once Brady signs a deal with the Buccaneers, he will be joining a list of great NFL quarterbacks who decided to switch teams toward the end of their careers.
TOM BRADY TO JOIN TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS, AGREES TO DEAL IN PRINCIPLE: REPORT
These are some other quarterbacks who switched to a different uniform late in their careers:
JOE NAMATH
Joe Namath joined the Rams in 1977. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
Joe Namath famously guaranteed a victory over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III and held up his end of the bargain. Namath spent 12 seasons with the New York Jets, throwing for 27,057 yards, 170 touchdown passes and 215 interceptions. However, he didn’t finish his career in New York.
Namath joined the Los Angeles Rams in 1977. He played four games for the Rams before calling it a career. Earlier this year, Namath urged Brady not to make the same mistake he did.
“I wish I knew what I learned in making that transition before making it, meaning it turned out to be a very difficult transition,” he told ESPN in January of joining the Rams.
JOHNNY UNITAS
Johnny Unitas was one of the greatest quarterbacks at the time. He was with the Baltimore Colts from 1956 to 1972 and is only known for playing with that team. But Unitas did spend at least one season with another team before calling it quits.
In 1973, Unitas played five games with the San Diego Chargers. He threw for 471 yards with three touchdown passes and seven interceptions in that span. Dan Fouts was on the same team and had six starts while Wayne Clark had four.
The Chargers finished 2-11-1 that year.
JOE MONTANA
Joe Montana spent two seasons with the Chiefs. (Photo by Joseph Patronite/Getty Images)
Tom Brady is essentially following in Joe Montana’s footsteps, except the Patriots don’t really have a quarterback in place to take the reins from Brady. Montana won five Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers before trying to continue his career with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Montana played two seasons with the Chiefs in 1993 and 1994. He also was selected to a Pro Bowl in 1993 and got the Chiefs to the playoffs both years. In 1993, he was a game away from a Super Bowl.
In 25 games, Montana threw for 791 yards with 29 touchdown passes and 16 interceptions.
BRETT FAVRE
Brett Favre nearly got the Vikings back to the Super Bowl. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Brett Favre didn’t spend his entire career with one team. He made his career with the Green Bay Packers after he was acquired from the Atlanta Falcons. He won a Super Bowl in Green Bay but, once the team selected current quarterback Aaron Rodgers, his career with the team was put on the clock.
After friction with the Packers, he was traded to the New York Jets during the 2008 season. He spent one season with the Jets before joining the Minnesota Vikings for the 2009 and 2010 seasons.
With Minnesota, Favre was close to getting back to the Super Bowl. He fell one game short during the 2009 season, losing to the New Orleans Saints 31-28.
PEYTON MANNING
Peyton Manning helped the Broncos to a Super Bowl victory in his final season.(AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Peyton Manning was already one of the all-time greats in his 13 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. But after he missed the 2011 season with a neck surgery, it appeared the Colts were ready to move on and drafted Andrew Luck with the No. 1 pick of the 2012 draft.
Manning found himself with the Denver Broncos in 2012 and didn’t appear to drop off. He helped the Broncos to a Super Bowl victory during the 2015 season – one of the worst of his career – and went out on top.