Future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady announced his retirement from the NFL after a 22-year career with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion retired with more Vince Lombardi trophies than every other NFL team and holds many of the league’s all-time records, including passing yards, passing touchdowns, wins and Pro Bowl selections.
Brady is considered the greatest NFL player of all-time and one of the greatest athletes of the last two decades. So naturally, his retirement prompted athletes from every sport to weigh in, including Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder AJ Pollock.
Although Pollock never played football, he thanked Brady for “giving a [New England] kid a true pro to look up to” in a post to his Instagram story.
AJ Pollock commented on Tom Brady retiring. pic.twitter.com/imMJCRHNkE
— Matthew Moreno (@MMoreno1015) February 1, 2022
Pollock was born in Connecticut, roughly 40 minutes away from Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, and he grew up as a Patriots fan and routinely went to games.
Pollock is 10 years younger than Brady, so he was a teenager when the quarterback first won a Super Bowl as a 24-year-old in 2002 with a victory against the St. Louis Rams to complete the 2001 season. Brady later added another Super Bowl title during the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
Brady retires with a career 278-85 record, including his 35-12 postseason mark. The 44-year-old also threw for nearly 100,000 yards with 710 passing touchdowns to only 242 interceptions in his career.
Vin Scully asks Brady for most memorable touchdown pass
After Brady threw the 700th touchdown pass of his career, he discussed the accomplishment with Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully, who like the quarterback is also considered the greatest of all-time at his job.
Scully asked which of the 700 touchdowns were his favorite and Brady said the passes early in his career meant the most because they helped give him the confidence he could play in the NFL.
Coming into the NFL as a late-round draft pick out of Michigan, Brady was never expected to amount to much and only took over as a starter because of an injury to former Patriots star quarterback Drew Bledsoe.
Brady specifically recalled his touchdown pass to David Patten in Super Bowl 36 as his favorite, which was the first in his first time playing in the game.
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