Despite concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL managed to start the football season on September 10, 2020. While fans around the nation were excited to see their favorite football player in action, Patriots fans had to adjust to their challenge of not seeing Tom Brady in a navy blue jersey.

In March of this year, Tom Brady announced that he would be leaving the New England Patriots and joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Not all New Englanders were shocked that Brady left, however. “He was here for 20 years, which is insane,” said Jack Duquette, ‘21, a member of HB’s football team. “In football terms, nobody stays with one team for 20 years. That just doesn’t happen.”

Some fans speculate that Brady’s numerous pay cuts impacted his decision to leave. “[The] Pats should have paid [Brady] so he could retire a Patriot,” said Lisa Danis, an English teacher and avid Patriots fan. 

Not everyone thinks that Brady should have stayed though, “I think that it was time to let him go,” said Blake Bergerson, a wide receiver on the HB football team. Duquette agrees with his teammate. “I think at some point you have to move on,” said Duquette. He also feels that with everything going on with the COVID-19 pandemic, this was the perfect time for Brady to leave the Patriots.

Interestingly, most people still root for the quarterback. “Brady is the [greatest of all time] and will always be the [greatest of all time],” said Danis. She continued saying, “[A] Pats/Buccaneers Super Bowl would be epic.” One reason that Patriot fans are on Brady’s side could be due to how they grew up watching him. “He is part of my whole childhood,” said Bergerson.

So far, the Buccaneers have been scoring 29.5 points on an average game while keeping their opponents at scoring only 20.3 points on average in their games. For the 2020 season, Brady currently has 2398  passing yards and has aided in scoring 20 touchdown passes.

The next Buccaneers game is on Sunday November 15 at 1:00 pm against the Carolina Panthers.