Tom Brady has seven Super Bowl rings , three MVP awards, and enough NFL records to fill a small library. But one hilarious answer during a trivia showdown with Drew Brees proved that remembering those records is another story.
During Sunday's NFL on FOX pregame coverage, Brady went head-to-head with Drew Brees in a quarterback trivia contest. The premise was simple. Both legends rank first or second in several passing categories. Their job was to identify whoever ranked third.
Easy enough, right?
Not quite. One hilarious answer from Brady turned the competition into comedy.
The segment was called "Who's in Third," a play on the classic "Who's on First" routine.
Brady started strong . When asked who ranked third in career touchdown passes behind himself and Brees, he immediately answered Aaron Rodgers.
Correct.
He looked ready to run away with the competition. Then came the question about consecutive games with a touchdown pass. Brees holds the record with 54, while Brady ranks second.
Brees guessed Johnny Unitas. Wrong. Brady tried Jared Goff before Peyton Manning was revealed as the answer.
Nobody had offered a hilarious answer yet, but the quarterbacks weren't exactly dominating.
The next question concerned career completions. Brady ranks first, Brees second, and Brett Favre third. Neither quarterback immediately remembered Favre. Brees eventually got there after Brady suggested Matthew Stafford.
Then came Brady's hilarious answer .
Drew Brees and Tom Brady share a moment on the field following a matchup between the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The two NFL legends recently reunited for a trivia showdown that featured a hilarious answer from Brady.
The final question concerned career games with at least 300 passing yards.
Brees ranks first. Brady is second.
Who ranks third?
Brady answered, "Drew Brees."
Yes, seriously.
Brees was already first. The entire premise of the game was identifying the player behind the two quarterbacks standing there.
The hilarious answer was so unexpected that the hosts immediately pointed out the obvious problem. Brees couldn't occupy first and third place simultaneously.
Brady had apparently forgotten the rules of a contest he'd been playing for nearly two minutes. The hilarious answer also prompted jokes about whether someone was feeding Brady information through another television.
Eventually, Peyton Manning was identified as the correct response.
For someone who spent 23 NFL seasons dissecting defenses, Brady's hilarious answer was a pretty spectacular mental lapse.
And that's what made the moment entertaining.
Brady and Brees combined for more than 160,000 passing yards and 1,200 touchdown passes during their careers.
They practically wrote the record book.
Yet the hilarious answer showed that knowing how to set records and remembering every statistical ranking are two different talents.
Brady has built a broadcasting career around explaining football. Brees understands the position as well as almost anyone. Neither looked particularly comfortable recalling the names behind their own accomplishments.
Of course, the hilarious answer wasn't some embarrassing revelation about Brady's football knowledge. It was a lighthearted television segment designed to entertain viewers before kickoff.
And it worked.
The hilarious answer gave fans a chance to see two fiercely competitive quarterbacks laugh at themselves. Brady spent his career rarely giving opponents an opening. On Sunday, he handed Brees one without even realizing it.
Nobody will remember who won the trivia contest. They probably won't remember every question, either.
But Brady's hilarious answer might stick around for a while. The seven-time Super Bowl champion spent 23 seasons outsmarting NFL defenses, only to get tripped up by a question about a record his opponent already held. Fortunately for Brady, the only thing he lost Sunday was a little pride.
And knowing how competitive he is, there's a decent chance he'll spend more time thinking about that wrong answer than most quarterbacks spend studying an entire defensive playbook.
Brees, meanwhile, probably won't let him forget it anytime soon.
