Brady embracing journey as Bucs QB prepares for record 10th Super Bowl
Tom Brady reflected on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' progression to Super Bowl LV thanks to Sunday's road win.
Tom Brady is embracing the journey as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers star prepares to make a remarkable 10th Super Bowl appearance.
Brady – a six-time Super Bowl champion – guided the Buccaneers past the top-seeded Green Bay Packers 31-26 in Sunday's NFC Championship Game.
The 43-year-old quarterback, who is in his first season with the Buccaneers after 20 trophy-laden campaigns at the New England Patriots, led Tampa Bay to the NFL showpiece for the first time since 2003.
Tampa Bay will become the first team in NFL history to play a home Super Bowl – at Raymond James Stadium, where defending champions the Kansas City Chiefs await on February 7 – and four-time Super Bowl MVP Brady revelled in the achievement.
"It's been a great journey thus far. We put the work in and a lot of guys just embraced everything," Brady told reporters after completing 20 of 36 passes for 280 yards, three touchdowns and three second-half interceptions.
"When Bruce Arians got here last year, there was a lot of great things that were happening, a lot of great young players and I just made the decision and love coming to work every day with this group of guys and we've worked really hard to get to this point.
"It's a tough game, we've had a few tough games in a row and the next one will be really tough too, but we know what we're playing for.
"We've got two weeks to prepare, it's going to be a great opponent and it'll be a really exciting couple of weeks for us."
Brady – who will go head-to-head with reigning Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LV – now has more playoff wins since turning 35 (17) than any other quarterback has in his entire career, per Stats Perform.
Tampa Bay's Brady became the third player all-time with three-plus touchdown passes and three-plus interceptions in a conference championship game, joining Joe Montana (1981 NFC Championship) and Mark Malone (1984 AFC Championship).
It was also the fourth time Brady has thrown three-plus interceptions in a playoff game, and his teams are 3-1 in those matchups (most such wins all-time) – his sides are 0-9 when he has three-plus interceptions in a regular-season game.
This was the 20th occasion Brady has led his team to 30-plus points in a postseason game – no other player has even half that total (second is Troy Aikman with nine). Brady's teams are 18-2 in those games.
Brady will feature in his 10th Super Bowl – the next most by a player is six by Mike Lodish and Stephen Gostkowski, after the Buccaneers became the fifth team all-time to win three road games in a single postseason.