He piled up 3,983 yards and 39 touchdowns through the air, though he did struggle with turnovers, tossing 20 picks.Įven with the blunders, allowing Brees to throw until he couldn’t lift his arm any longer was the method that worked at Purdue. The sophomore threw an eye-popping 569 passes and still hit his targets with better than 63 percent accuracy. Brady hadn’t done much to separate himself from the rest of the quarterbacks in the B1G.īrees’ story in West Lafayette was much different. The Wolverines only hit the 30-point barrier three times in the 13-game season. That year, Michigan’s success primarily came on the defensive end. Brady was credited with 323 passes on the year, completing those at a a 61.9 percent clip. He threw for 2,427 yards and 14 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. While the records from the 1998 season were similar, the numbers posted by Brady and Brees couldn’t have been more different.īrady’s first season under center in Ann Arbor could be labeled as modest. Michigan finished the season 10-3 and Purdue was 9-4. Purdue opened the year with a 3-4 record in its first seven games, but ended the year with six-straight victories. 14 and proving it hadn’t lost all the magic from that championship season in 1997. Michigan lost the first two games of the year before finally rattling off eight-straight wins between Sept. Both Michigan and Purdue lost their season openers that year, the Wolverines falling to rival Notre Dame and the Boilermakers dropping a game to USC. Neither Brady nor Brees started their college careers the way they had hoped. Meanwhile, Brees was the prodigy in an exciting, out-of-the-ordinary, pass-heavy offense that head coach Joe Tiller was hoping would put the Boilermakers on the map. Brady was replacing Brian Griese, who had just led the Wolverines to a perfect season and a shared national championship. It was that season that Brady and Brees won the starting jobs at Michigan and Purdue, respectively. That’s the year the story begins for two of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of football. So before the two meet on the field to start the 2020 season on Sunday afternoon, let’s hop in the time machine and take a look back at the college “rivalry” the two quarterbacks developed in their B1G days. Over 20 years ago, Brady and Brees were getting their first taste of major college football. Two different approaches, two different experiences and two completely different players. At the time, they couldn’t have been more different. Little did we know two decades ago an NFL season would be highlighted by a pair of the greatest passers in history.īefore Brady and Brees transformed the NFL, they shared the B1G together. And, in a way, it’s fitting that they could be ending their professional careers in the same division.Īfter all, they both came out of the same conference 20 years ago - Brady playing at Michigan while Brees spent his career at Purdue. It’s a showdown between two of most successful quarterbacks the league has ever seen. They’ll be the talk of Week 1 in the league, as the two new division rivals go head to head to open the 2020 season with Tampa Bay traveling to New Orleans. Sunday, Brady and Brees begin the latest chapter of their novel-like NFL careers, both writing the final pages on what has been a pair of Hall of Fame careers. “Tampa Tom” and “Breesus.” A six-time Super Bowl champion and the author of the NFL’s record book.
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