IT’S THAT TOM AGAIN
Younger Jets want to make new memories against legendary Brady
FOXBOROUGH, Mass — Leonard Williams was 7 years old the night Tom Brady beat the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI at the Superdome to win his first title.
Brady was 37 when the Jets made Williams the sixth pick of the 2015 draft out of USC. Brady was the one quarterback Williams, who has seven sacks this season and 10 as a Jet, was looking forward to sacking. And still is.
“I got a lot of hits on him, but he’s a great at getting rid of the ball,” Williams told The Post. “I’ll get to him really fast sometimes, and he would just get the ball out.”
Williams, like the rest of the football world, is amazed Brady still is playing at an elite level at 39.
“I think that’s awesome,” Williams said. “Hopefully I’ll be able to have a really long career. I doubt that long, just because I play a lot more physical position. But I give a lot of respect to that type of guy who’s been able to do this for that long.”
Since Brady became Bill Belichick’s quarterback in 2001, he has overcome sev- en different quarterbacks the Jets have thrown at him. Bryce Petty will be the eighth on Saturday.
“Just getting a sack on him would mean a lot for me, especially since we’re Jets, and they’re kind of like a rival and stuff like that,” Williams said.
It still is New York versus Boston, but the 4-10 Jets are more nuisance than rival these days. And until the Jets find their Brady, or at least a franchise quarterback, or until Brady is sacked by Father Time, the rivalry will pale by comparison to Steelers-Ravens.
The oddsmakers making t he Je t s 16 1/2- point underdogs tells you they’re not buying into the notion that when these two teams meet, you throw out the record books.
Rookie Jets linebacker Darron Lee was 7 when he first saw Brady play.
“First time I ever saw Tom Brady play, he won a Super Bowl,” Lee said. “That was when he beat the Rams.” Lee was the Jets’ 2016 first-round draft pick. “Doesn’t look like he’s 39,” Lee said. Then he laughed and added, “I would like his genes. If I could have ’em at 39!”
Cornerback Juston Burris was 8 when he saw Brady play for the first time.
“He’s still a great quarterback,” Burris said. “He’s really an MVP candidate, and really doing what he has to do to help a team win.”
Brady threw 101 passes without an interception with two touchdowns in his first three games in 2001 after taking over for wounded starter Drew Bledsoe (thanks to Mo Lewis). In his fourth start, Brady was 16-20 for 202 yards and three TDs in a 38-17 victory in Indianapolis. That made it 121 passes without an interception before he threw four the following week in Denver.
Petty has thrown three TDs with five INTs in his first three starts. He has been sacked 10 times, one of which knocked him out of the Dolphins loss with a bruised chest. His offensive linemen offer him chocolate chip cookies but not enough protection. By contrast, Brady has been sacked 14 times in his 10 starts. And Brady doesn’t have to play against Bill Belichick and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. Poor Petty does.
Brady and the Patriots are pushing for the top seed in the AFC. Williams, Lee, Burris, Petty, Sheldon Richardson (if he is on a Snapchat video) and the rest of Todd Bowles’ sadsack Jets will have another chance to watch ageless Tom Brady try to win one for the thumb, an historic fifth Super Bowl championship. Or four more than the Jets.