The biggest game on the New England Patriots’ 2021 regular season schedule is without a doubt their Week 4 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Not only are the Bucs the reigning world champions, they are also led by a pair of Patriots legends: quarterback Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski.
Brady’s early-October return to Gillette Stadium in particular is an intriguing storyline for the upcoming season. It will be his first game back since he left the Patriots in free agency last year — joining the Buccaneers after two decades and six Super Bowl wins in New England.
NFL fans across the region and all over the nation have already circled the game on the calendar, and one among them is Brady’s father, Tom Brady Sr.
“I started salivating when I saw that we’re playing the Patriots in the fourth game of the season; and we’re coming up here to make our record 4-0 after the fourth game,” Brady Sr. said during an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Zolak and Bertrand on Thursday.
“Coming back home to Boston — it’s our second home here — and the Patriots are our second favorite team, it’s a game where we get to root against nobody; we get to root for the Patriots but our most favorite team of course is the Buccaneers. So, we expect to beat the Patriots rather handily, frankly.”
The Buccaneers, of course, are coming off a Super Bowl win in Brady’s first season with them. His former team, meanwhile, stumbled to a losing record for the first time since 2000.