The Green Bay Packers haven’t had an enjoyable past few months. Tom Brady certainly hasn’t made it easier for them. The all-time great quarterback started their misery in January when he knocked them off in the NFC championship. Since then he’s gone out of his way to fire potshots at them through the media whenever given the opportunity. His latest was no less funny than the others.
Brady is busy preparing for a celebrity golf contest dubbed The Match. He was part of the original last year. One where he and Phil Mickelson took on Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning. Having failed to win, the 43-year old is intent on getting some redemption. This time against his new opponents, Packers star Aaron Rodgers and reigning U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.
True to form, Brady isn’t wasting time with the trash talk.
The four men appeared in an interview setting on TNT to talk about the upcoming matchup. Most of the conversation was playing bantering and talks of why they were doing this. It was when DeChambeau explained why he thinks he and Rodgers will win where things got juicy. As a man known for being aggressive on the course, DeChambeau plans to encourage his partner to do the same. Brady took that as a premium opportunity to troll the Packers once again. Rodgers, to his credit, played along.
.@TomBrady: "I do think you have a partner that would like to 'Go for It' a little more often than he has in the past. [@BleacherReport]
.@AaronRodgers12: "Well, I usually don't have the option."
.@TomBrady: "I know the pain.."
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) June 15, 2021
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For those who aren’t caught up, Brady was referencing the NFC championship game. Trailing by eight with two minutes to play, Green Bay faced 4th down and goal from the eight-yard line. Rather than go for the touchdown using his MVP quarterback, head coach Matt Lafleur opted to kick a short field goal. He was hoping there was enough time left to get one more crack on offense. All he needed was a quick stop from the defense.
It didn’t happen. Brady engineered three first downs on the subsequent Buccaneers drive (aided by three Packer penalties) to drain the clock and send his team to the Super Bowl.
Tom Brady hasn’t let them forget about it since
Everybody watching at home and in the building couldn’t understand the decision. Lafleur had the best quarterback in the league last season. Rodgers was playing at an insane level. He’d already thrown two touchdowns from inside the 10 during the second half. Though a gamble, it was more favorable than giving the ball back to a quarterback who already had six Super Bowl rings and a mile-long list of late-game heroics.
It was an appalling instance of a head coach losing his nerve in a big moment. One Rodgers still hasn’t forgotten. That much was made clear during his stint hosting Jeopardy.
It may forever be the decision the coach is known for.
That’s because Rodgers has yet to return to the team. The buzz around the league is he won’t until either the Packers fire GM Brian Gutekunst or trade him to another team. Thus far Green Bay has refused to meet either demand. Thus the quarterback continues to fill his offseason with other activities. That suits Tom Brady just fine. One less big obstacle for his team to clear in the NFC as they try to repeat.