It’s a QB match for the ages
17-year gap between Brady, Goff is largest in Super Bowl history
ATLANTA— Tom Brady vividly remembers the first time he experienced all the hype, hoopla and heightened expectations of playing in the Super Bowl.
The New England Patriots quarterback was just a wideeyed yet supremely confident second-year player on the verge of jump-starting one of the most dominant dynasties in sports history.
That was 2002 — 17 years ago. Brady is 41 now and insists the years haven’t changed him much from that first Super Sunday against the then-St. Louis Rams.
“In many ways, I’m similar,” Brady said this week while preparing for his ninth appearance on the NFL’s biggest stage. “I don’t think in the end that things are that different for me.”
Except, of course, they very much are.
Brady still has the boyish good looks and flashy smile that made him a media darling back then, but he also has five Super Bowl rings and a ridiculously lengthy list of team and NFL records. And, here he is in the days leading up to this year’s game with things having come full circle.
He’s again facing the Rams, who are now in their third year back in Los Angeles. But this time, it’s against a quarterback in Jared Goff who was only 7 when Brady started his historymaking run.
At 24 years and 112 days old, Goff will be the fourth-youngest quarterback to start a Super Bowl game. Brady is actually fifth on that list, at 24 years, 184 days old.
The 17-year age gap is the largest between starting quarterbacks in Super Bowl history. And, if you want to feel really old, make a pop culture reference from about 20 years ago or so, and Goff will shake his head and shrug his shoulders because he’ll probably have no clue what you’re talking about.
“I’ll get asked about stuff all the time,” Goff said.
“If it’s from any time in the ’90s, I probably don’t remember it. I was, you know, born in ’94, so.”
Goff doesn’t recall anything about the first time Brady hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. In fact, his first Super Bowl memory didn’t come until two years later when the Patriots beat the Carolina Panthers.
“It’s a guy that you’ve looked up to for so long,” Goff said about Brady, “and now I get a chance to play in one with him.”
The overwhelming passion to win at all costs is clearly ingrained in both — no matter the age difference.
“I loved playing then, I still love playing now,” Brady said. “I don’t take anything for granted, I really don’t. I enjoy it. ... This is a memory you’ll have forever and I really hope we can go out and take advantage of it.”
Brady sees some of himself in Goff. He knows Goff represents hope for a franchise on the upswing that yearns for success after several subpar seasons. Unlike Brady, who was a sixthround pick in 2000, Goff was the No. 1 overall selection in 2016. Leading up to the draft, there were even comparisons of Goff to Brady for the youngster’s footwork, pocket presence and accuracy.
Goff showed flashes during a shaky rookie season of what everyone is seeing now on a regular basis.