One Of Daniel Jones’ Earliest Sports Memories Is Getting His Heart Broken By Tom Brady
Tom Brady has entered the point in his near two-decade career where he’s playing against guys who hadn’t entered kindergarten yet when he was drafted. Add 22 year-old Giants quarterback Daniel Jones to that list.
Jones grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina and was therefore a die-hard Panthers fan. At age 6, he watched Jake Delhomme and Steve Smith (his favorite players) lead his beloved hometown team to their first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. It was 2003, and it was the first football season in which Daniel Jones really fell in love with the game.
Then came Tom Brady and the Pats to break little Daniel’s heart:
“I remember where I watched it. Went to a friend’s house. The Dickens’ house. A family friend,” Jones told ESPN. “Obviously it was heartbreaking when Vinatieri made that field goal.”
Along with the rest of the world outside of New England, Jones would spend the next several years of his life slowly coming to terms with the fact that getting your spirit broken by Tom Brady is just part of football. He’ll get a chance to experience that feeling again on Thursday night, only this time he’s the opposing quarterback.
Jones has certainly turned some heads since taking Eli Manning’s jobs and leading the lowly Giants (30th ranked defense) to consecutive wins in his first two starts. But his 65.9 QBR in last week’s 28-10 loss to the Vikings proved he still has a long way to go, and injuries to Saquon Barkley, Evan Engram, Wayne Gallman, and Sterling Shepard have given him nothing to work with. There’s no chance that wretched defense and banged up offense are coming into Foxboro and winning a game. 34-6 Pats.