Former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady called the curtain on his long career in 2023 after playing his last season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite having an illustrious career, Brady couldn’t bid goodbye to football in the style he would have aspired to, as he looked a pale shadow of the quarterback he once was.
When the Steelers met the Bucs at Acrisure Stadium on October 16, 2022, Brady and his men succumbed to a 20-18 defeat to the Steelers. The win helped the Steelers break their four-game losing streak while the Bucs slipped to a 3-3 season record.
However, former Steelers great Ben Roethlisberger wasn’t particularly pleased with Brady’s performance as he shed light on Tom Brady’s declined performance in 2022. During an episode of his podcast ‘Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger EP.8’, in 2022, Roethlisberger commented,
“There’s no way he’s enjoying this. No way. I was enjoying being up there watching the game. It just didn’t look fun, to him.”
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Though Brady could complete 62.5% of his 40 passes for 243 yards, he managed just one touchdown late in the fourth quarter. When Brady attempted a two-point conversion to tie the game, he was halted by Steelers LB Devin Bush.
Tom Brady failed to perform under immense pressure from the Steelers and outside
Throughout the game, Brady also struggled to connect with his receivers, looking out of sync. It resulted in four field goals from multiple drives despite the Steelers’ defense missing several key players. However, they still managed to disrupt the Bucs’ progress and keep Brady under relentless pressure, to the point where he even yelled at his offensive linemen.
Roethlisberger further added, “Tom is the greatest. The Super Bowl rings show it. It didn’t look like he wanted to be out there. Maybe it was the pressure and he was getting hit and whatever was going on.”
Roethlisberger was probably right in his assessment of Brady’s commitment as he skipped training sessions to attend Robert Kraft’s wedding. It was a bit uncharacteristic of Tom Brady, who trained regularly to stay in peak form.
However, it was later revealed that Brady was facing marital issues with his former wife, Gisele Bundchen. The former Victoria’s Secret supermodel was upset with Brady calling back his retirement, which led to the couple announcing their divorce in the same month. Brady finally bid adieu to football at the end of the season.
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