When The Athletic reported that Jimmy Garoppolo had surgery on his injured foot in March and had not practiced at organized team activities during the week of May 25, the Tom Brady return rumors began to swirl. Furthermore, Troy Aikman added fuel to the rumors when stating he wouldn’t be surprised to see Brady, who has a minority stake in the team, come down from the Las Vegas Raiders owner’s box for one more season. Plus, a familiar foe for the Raiders had some praise for Raider Nation—yes, we’re talking about Travis Kelce.
Brady recently cleared up any rumors about his future, which isn’t on the field. Many NFL fans would have their eyes glued to the television if Brady faced Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes again. More so since Kelce is igniting the rivalry ahead of the new season.
Tom Brady stresses he’s retired for good amid return rumors…
The Brady return rumors might have taken on a life of their own after the Garoppolo injury news. A spokesperson for the NFL even told TMZ Sports that it would be possible for the former New England Patriots signal-caller to be under center and a minority owner.
Brady would need two NFL-wide votes to be a part of the Vegas ownership group and be under center simultaneously. Nonetheless, the 45-year-old had to extinguish the fire because so many outlets ran wild with the speculation.
“I’m certain I’m not playing again, so I’ve tried to make that clear,” Brady told Sports Illustrated’s Robin Lundberg. “And I hate to continue to profess that because I’ve already told people that lots of times, but I’m looking forward to my broadcasting job at FOX [Sports] next year.
“I’m looking forward to the opportunity ahead with the Raiders, and we’re in the process of that, along with the other different things that I’m a part of professionally and in my personal life.”
Well, any Raiders fan intrigued by the idea of seeing Brady in the Silver and Black will have to shift over to monitoring the situation with Garoppolo and whether or not he’d be ready to go for Week 1.
While it would have been nice to see Tom Brady throwing the ball to Davante Adams, that might only happen in practice when the seven-time Super Bowl champion decides to attend and tease the fans and media.
Travis Kelce shows respect to the Raiders despite the rivalry
The upside of the Brady rumors was the idea of him battling Mahomes again to add further fuel to the Chiefs-Raiders rivalry. Although the two AFC West foes might not like each other, there’s a level a respect.
Kelce elaborated on what it means to be playing in arguably one of the best rivalries in the NFL throughout his tenure with the Chiefs.
“I love Raiders fans, man,” Kelce said on the FanDuel TV show, “Run it Back,” Wednesday (h/t Raiders Today). “Every time I see you guys, we have a great time, man. I have a tremendous respect for not only the Raiders and the guys that I played that are on the Raiders, but I’ll tell you what, the fan base, you guys don’t hold back.
“Man, I love every bit of the ‘boos’ and the ‘you sucks’ during the game. That makes football and the environment that much more fun to play in, man, so nothing but love and respect for the Raiders, man. But you know it’s a war every time we play.”
Vegas might be motivated after losing both contests last season to the Chiefs aside from playing the reigning Super Bowl champions. Although it remains a mystery how the Raiders team will look for their first game on Nov. 26 at Allegiant Stadium, the fans will give Travis Kelce and Co. all they can handle.
*Top Photo: John Raoux/Shutterstock
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