You know how the old adage goes: Great players make great plays. Well, for Tom Brady, great players make for great play calls.
The seven-time Super Bowl winner shared that his favorite play from his career was named after Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali.
“My favorite play ever, you know what we called it? Jordan. And to the left? Ali,” Brady said. “Bonzai Right 74 Hoss Z Juke. Bonzai Right was the formation, 74 was the protection, Hoss was a mirrored route and then Z had a juke route in the inside part of the field where you score with the linebackers.”
Tom Brady breaks down his favorite play ever
As Brady said, he’d call out Jordan or Ali depending on how the offense planned to attack the open field. He’d also audible into the play, with one instance coming during the 2016 AFC Championship Game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. In that game, Brady audibled the Patriots into “Jordan,” yelling out the NBA legend’s name as he went from under center into a shotgun formation. He wound up connecting with New England Patriots wide receiver Chris Hogan for a 25-yard gain.
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However, there was a more memorable play that Brady used the play call to help the Patriots find success.
“[Rob Gronkowski] would be in the seam. So, if it was one high, I would throw it up to the seam,” Brady said of the formation for the play.” “It’s the play I hit Gronk to at the end of [Super Bowl LIII]. We threw it like, three times on the last drive. The running back, you put outside and if they played any soft coverage, I’d just throw the hitch route.”
Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner pointed out that the Patriots actually ran that play three times in a row on the drive that helped them take a 10-3 lead over the Los Angeles Rams late in Super Bowl LIII. Warner added that the play has “answers vs. every coverage” and that the Rams had a different coverage on each of those three plays.
The third time they ran the play was when Brady found Gronkowski in the seam for a 29-yard gain, helping the Patriots get down to the Rams’ 2-yard line. They scored the game-winning touchdown on the next play.
While that was the most memorable usage of the play for Brady, it certainly wasn’t the only time it led to a big gain for him.
“It was f***ing unstoppable,” Brady said. “And then Ali, we’re punching the punching bag. So, everyone would line up right away and we’d go very quick. So, if you hit a big play down the field — Jordan, Jordan, everyone would go right on the field and off and running.
“I had 100,000 yards. I’d bet you 7,000 yards were on this play.”
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