When Tom Brady first announced that he would be taking his talents to Tampa Bay, there was excitement in the air for the fans and the front office members alike. For Tristan Wirfs, however, it meant that a grave undertaking was about to take place.
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The offensive linemen already have an extraordinary duty, but protecting the greatest signal caller in the history of your profession means placing that pressure on yourself. While he would manage to live up to those expectations that he had set for himself, Wirfs has also admitted that he still struggles to think about one of the last times in which he didn’t.
“Talk about nightmare fuel, dude,” he exclaimed during his recent appearance on the Bussin’ with the Boys podcast. “When they called me on draft night, they were like, ‘You ready to protect Tom Brady?’ I was like, what? You gotta be kidding me. I was just trying to keep him upright. Because, obviously, if you get him hit hard, I don’t want to be the one to end Tom Brady’s career,” he recalled.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what would happen when the Bucs were forced to face off against the Dallas Cowboys in the opening round of the 2022 playoffs. Brady would throw the ball 66 total times that day, but nothing proved to be enough to close the gap.
Although even after Dallas found itself with a 31-6 lead, it still seemed as if there was a bit of magic left. Brady was able to connect with Cameron Brate on an eight-yard touchdown pass, and that was followed by a successful two-point conversion and onside kick.
But that’s where the fun ended, as a sack from Micah Parsons on 2nd & 10 effectively brought an end to the contest. According to Wirfs, that particular moment in time will likely haunt him forever.
“Turns out it would be one of the last plays of Tom’s career, and I gave up a sack. That’s going to stick with me for the rest of my life. That is haunting,” Wirfs said.
Brady would inevitably go out to the tune of 35 pass completions, 351 passing yards, two touchdowns, and one interception, proving that, even in his final moments, he was still capable of being one of the better quarterbacks in the league.
It still remains unknown whether Brady ever shared his honest thoughts with Wirfs about the 2022 sack. Interestingly, that was also the last time the Cowboys entered the playoffs.
