Tom Brady looked like he never left the game, but then it all fell apart for his team.
The 48-year-old fired a perfect touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs on the very first play of the Fanatics Flag Football Classic, his first competitive game action in more than 1,000 days. Brady also evaded a free rush, stepped up and delivered a strike for the score after replacing Jalen Hurts on fourth-and-goal, then hit Rob Gronkowski for a two-point conversion to give his Founders FFC team an 8-0 lead.
Then Gronkowski went down with a hamstring injury, and things unraveled quickly.
Team USA rolled through the round-robin tournament, beating Brady’s Founders FFC 43-16 and Joe Burrow’s Wildcats FFC 39-16 before holding off the Founders 24-14 in the championship game. The national team scored on every possession across three games except for a kneel-down at the end of one victory.
Brady’s Founders were eliminated before the final after Burrow’s Wildcats squad beat them 34-26 in the round-robin stage.
“My heart is really hurting right now,” Brady said between losses.
Brady still had his moments, including calling his own version of the Philly Special and tossing a touchdown pass to Hurts against Team USA. But the NFL players and coaches were clearly learning the rules on the fly after only a couple of practices together.
Brady was even penalized for tossing one of his flags to the ground when he could not insert it in time during a hurry-up situation. Founders coach Sean Payton was frustrated after an official told him it was third down on the sideline before switching to fourth down before the snap.
Team USA’s speed, sophistication and mastery of the game were simply too much for the NFL players to handle.
The event was originally scheduled to take place at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but was relocated to BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
Brady’s team included Ashton Jeanty, Alvin Kamara, Antoine Winfield Jr., DeVonta Smith, Von Miller, Damar Hamlin, Patrick Peterson and boxer Terence Crawford. Burrow’s team, coached by Kyle Shanahan, featured Odell Beckham Jr., Davante Adams, DeAndre Hopkins, Derwin James Jr., Luke Kuechly and Logan Paul, among others.
With flag football set to make its Olympic debut at the 2028 LA Games, many NFL players have expressed interest in competing for gold. Team USA made clear on Sunday that earning a spot on that roster will not be easy.
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