Tom Brady Cannot Relate to His Peers as They Get Older

He is about to be one of the oldest quarterbacks in Super Bowl history.

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Tom Brady of the New England Patriots throws during the second quarter of a game against the Los Angeles Chargers. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
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On Saturday night, Randy Moss is most likely going to be announced as a new member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He retired five years ago, after playing for 14 seasons. A day after this expected announcement, Tom Brady, who helped revitalize Moss’s career in 2007, will be on the field in search of his sixth Super Bowl Ring with the New England Patriots. Moss is less than six months older than Brady, who shows no signs of physical decline. He has also adopted a style of play that is generally associated with quarterbacks much younger than him. According to The New York Times, this season, 23.8 percent of Brady’s passes traveled 15 yards or more in the air. His passes traveled an average distance of 9.53 yards before finding their target, which was more than a half-yard farther than his average in any of the last 10 years. On top of throwing deep, Brady was also one of the most aggressive quarterbacks in the NFL regarding throwing into traffic. Other aging quarterbacks were reduced to a game manager, like Peyton Manning, or became an interception machine, like Brett Favre. But Brady is still trying to add new elements to his game. He led the NFL in passing yards for the first time since 2007.

“What he physically is still doing at 40 years old blows my mind,” said Frank Reich, the longtime backup quarterback of the Buffalo Bills who is now the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles, the Patriots’ Super Bowl opponents, according to The Times. “I played until I was 37, and the last three or four years, I don’t know how much distance I lost, but it was a lot. I don’t see any of that. I don’t see his arm diminishing at all.”

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