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Tom Brady is why Jon Gruden returned to football

Poor, poor Oakland.

New England Patriots v Oakland Raiders Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images

The New England Patriots have haunted the dreams of the Oakland Raiders ever since young Tom Brady came from behind to win a snowy divisional round playoff game thanks to officials correctly ruling a play dead on the field, and not a fumble.

Then-Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden was subsequently traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and won a Super Bowl against his former Raiders squad.

So now Gruden is back with the Raiders, shipping away franchise players, and he points to Tom Brady as a reason for his return to football.

“[Brady] can’t run, can’t jump, he’s too old,” Gruden says to Bleacher Report’s Dan Pompei about players with mental toughness. “He gets his ass knocked off. But he’s a Terminator. He ran me out of Oakland in the Tuck Game. Damn. He brought those bastards back in a two-minute drill to beat us in a driving snow. They didn’t do anything the whole night until the game was on the line.

“And here I am 20 years later, and guess who’s still there. That’s why I’m back.”

Sorry, not sorry Oakland. It wasn’t a fumble. Tom Brady’s still around. Enjoy 10 years of Gruden.