Tom Brady is leaving the New England Patriots. He will be joining the Tampa Bay Buccanneers. The contract information is not out yet. Brady announced on social media on Tuesday morning that he would be leaving the Patriots. Then as the day went on, rumors leaked out that Tampa will be his destination. It is a bit different, but Green Bay Packers fans have been here before. Brett Favre decided to leave the Packers after deciding to unretire. The Packers traded Favre to the New York Jets as the former Packers great was hellbent on playing for Chicago or Minnesota. This seems like another progression in the long line of older, legendary quarterbacks with something to prove.

There are multiple examples of this through football history. Johnny Unitas went to Los Angeles for a lackluster year with the Chargers. Joe Montana left San Francisco to play for Kansas City for two years. Peyton Manning left Indianapolis for Denver. Brady is the latest. But weirdly, Brady feels more like Favre than the other guys mentioned above.

While no quarterback is backing up Brady like Favre had Rodgers, the anticipation and the debate reminded of the Summer of Favre in 2008. People came up with all sorts of answers. Some never wanted Favre to leave and were willing to trade Rodgers away to keep Favre for another couple of years (A true what if moment in sports). Some wanted to let Rodgers take over and move on from Favre. Not many thought the latter with Brady, but some Patriots fans will realize that he is 43 years old. There is no data or proof that Brady is going to keep doing this at a near-elite level.

Brady did apply the Favre model for his choice of Tampa Bay. Favre went to Minnesota for revenge, but he also went there because of the protection of playing eight games in a dome. Brady’s body has not shown signs of breaking down in the cold, but it’s obvious he’s a better player in warmer climates. The new Tampa quarterback will get two games a year in a dome with Atlanta and New Orleans plus eight games in sunny Florida. Bucs also go to Las Vegas and Detroit meaning Tom Terrific gets an eye-popping 12 games in climate-preferred environments. That was one of the reasons Favre almost won the 2009 MVP. He had a favorable schedule for his old body.

Who knows how this will work but it’s immediately the top headline of the NFL season. Will Brady take his team on a Super Bowl run as Favre and Manning did? Or will he flame out like Unitas? Only time will tell.

Charlie.