Ever since Brock Purdy faced off against none other than Tom Brady for the first time in the NFL last season, the 49ers quarterback has been compared to the legend as both were drafted.
And as Purdy ignites the league in 2023, the similarities between the two have only grown stronger for some. Brady has been watching the 23-year-old’s success from afar and recently had nothing but praise for the young signal-caller.
“[The 49ers are] “I did a great job and I played against him last year and they have a great team,” Brady said on the latest “Let’s Go!” podcast. “I’ve also played on a lot of great teams over the years, and What did we do? We controlled the line of scrimmage, we ran the ball well, we stopped the run, they rushed the passer. They played with leads, and I give coaches [Kyle] Shanahan also deserves a lot of credit because he did a great job.
“You don’t hear about guys like Brock Purdy until Brock Purdy does great things on the field. So it’s kind of a funny story and I hope it continues for him because he seems like a really humble young man and he wants to go out and do great things. I think the more you have that chip on your shoulder like he does, and it wasn’t quite up to expectations, the nicer it is to go out there and continue to prove people wrong.”
Brady knows all about proving people wrong. After the New England Patriots selected him 199th overall in the 2000 NFL Draft, expectations for the sixth-round pick weren’t exactly high. But as a 15-time Pro Bowl player and five-time Super Bowl MVP with seven championship rings, he became the poster boy for late-round success in professional sports.
Could Purdy be on the same path? In addition to all the milestones that the last pick of the 2022 draft has achieved so far in his young career, last season Mr. Irrelevant was the only quarterback to beat Brady and Tampa Bay for the first time in NFL history in his career Buccaneers dominated defeat in Week 14. And this season, some believe it may well have been a passing of the torch.
FS1’s Skip Bayless said this week that Purdy plays like an “early Tom Brady,” while NFL draft expert Todd McShay also sees similarities.
“Early [for Brady and the Patriots]“That first Super Bowl was about defense and creative offense, and I think that’s exactly what Purdy was last year,” McShay said on “The Ryen Russillo Podcast” this week. “And now – I’m not saying it’s him.” Tom Brady – but I’m saying you’re seeing the development of a guy you drafted late and you’re not sure what you can get out of him. One day you wake up and you’re like, “Holy shit.” “This guy is one of the 10 best quarterbacks in the league.”
The parallels don’t stop there either. Like Purdy, Brady shared living space with roommates early in his career, he said, and he sees the San Francisco star’s decision to do so as just another reason to cheer him on.
“Because of the world of advertising and self-promotion, there is a lot of hype around a lot of things,” Brady said. “He’s a little bit under the radar, but he just goes about his job, and I think a lot of people can really respect that in a lot of different industries.”
“It’s nice to have people who show up every day, put the team first and do what’s asked of them, and he’s done that well. It really exceeds a lot of people’s expectations.”
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