49ers-Rams rivalry leads to conference title game matchup
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay arrived in California five years ago, a pair of hot-shot young coaches with a shared history and similar offenses taking over struggling franchises.
Shanahan took the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl his third season, and he has them a game away from another trip this year only to have his former colleague on Washington’s staff, McVay, standing in the way.
McVay has had even more success, leading the Los Angeles Rams to a playoff berth his first season, a Super Bowl trip the following season and then back-to-back playoff berths the past two seasons, including a trip to the NFC championship game against Shanahan’s 49ers on Sunday.
The head-to-head battle has been far more one-sided, with the 49ers winning the past six meetings, leading to questions this week to McVay about whether his old friend has gotten into his head.
“No,” McVay said. “What I do have is respect for these guys. They’ve done a great job.”
Shanahan also downplayed the coach vs. coach aspect of the rivalry, preferring to focus on the players rather than the guys calling the plays.
Even if it seems like Shanahan has always had the right answer against the Rams these past three seasons even when he hasn’t had as talented a team.
“I think that’s kind of silly,” he said. “I think a question like that is just giving Sean and myself way too much credit. We’re coaches; like watch what’s going on that field and some of the players out there and the people that are competing. To think that it’s about Sean and I, I know he doesn’t feel that way, and he knows I don’t feel that way. So the enter
reaction came from around the world congratulating Brady on his career. Even the NFL’s Twitter account posted a series of congratulatory messages.
But TB12sports deleted its tweet, and Brady’s agent, Don Yee, said the 44-year-old quarterback would be the only person to accurately express his future.
Brady informed Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht he has not made a decision, according to two people who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the conversations.
Brady’s father, Tom Brady, Sr., told multiple reporters that his son hasn’t made a firm decision yet.
A seven-time Super Bowl champion and the NFL’s career leader in numerous passing categories, Brady is under contract for 2022, but he has cited a desire to spend more time with his wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, and three children.
Brady may be waiting to make an official announcement on his or his brands’ social media channels or his SiriusXM podcast.
After ESPN’s report, TB12sports’ Twitter account posted: “7 Super Bowl Rings. 5 Super Bowl MVPs. 3 League MVP Awards. 22 Incredible Seasons. Thank you for it all, @TomBrady”
That post was removed, and Yee released this statement: “I understand the advance speculation about Tom’s future. Without getting into the accuracy or inaccuracy of what’s being reported, Tom will be the only person to express his plans with complete accuracy. He knows the realities of the football business and planning calendar as well as anybody, so that should be soon.”
Brady led the NFL in yards passing (5,316), touchdowns (43), completions (485) and attempts (719), but the Buccaneers lost at home to the Rams last Sunday in the divisional round.
Brady won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots in 20 seasons playing for coach Bill Belichick. He joined the Buccaneers in 2020 and led them to the second Super Bowl title in franchise history.
Brady would leave the sport as the career leader in yards passing (84,520) and TDs (624). He’s the only player to win more than five Super Bowls and was MVP of the game five times.
Widely considered the greatest quarterback to play the game, Brady has won three NFL MVP awards, was a first-team All-Pro three times and was selected to the Pro Bowl 15 times. He is 243-73 in his career in the regular season and 35-12 in the playoffs.
Overlooked by every team coming out of Michigan, Brady was eventually selected by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft. He replaced an injured Drew Bledsoe as the starter in 2001 and led New England to a Super Bowl victory over the heavily favored Rams that season.
Brady went on to lead the Patriots to Super Bowl victories over the Panthers following the 2003 season and Eagles after the 2004 season. No team has since repeated as champions.
But New England wouldn’t win another one for a decade, twice losing to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl, including a 17-14 defeat on Feb. 3, 2008, that prevented the Patriots from completing a perfect season.
Brady earned his fourth ring when the Patriots held off Seattle thanks to Malcolm Butler’s interception at the goal line in the Super Bowl after the 2014 season.
Two years later, in the biggest Super Bowl comeback, he led the Patriots out of a 28-3 deficit in the third quarter against Atlanta to win in overtime.
After losing to the Eagles and backup quarterback Nick Foles the following year, Brady got his sixth championship when New England shut down the Rams following the 2018 season.
He joined the Buccaneers in 2020 amid a pandemic, instilling a winning culture for a franchise that hadn’t won a playoff game in 18 years. With his old friend Rob Gronkowski joining him in Tampa, Brady helped the Buccaneers become the first team to play in a Super Bowl in its stadium. Naturally, Brady won again.