Tom Brady vs. Justin Fields features first Ohio State QB TB12 will face in 22-year career

As a Michigan grad, Tom Brady knows the significance of the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry. 

Weirdly enough, Brady has never faced a Buckeyes quarterback during his 21-year NFL career. Well, now, in his 22nd season, he finally will when he’ll go up against the Bears’ Justin Fields on Sunday.

Brady was asked about the Oct. 24 matchup between a Michigan and Ohio State quarterback at a press conference on Friday, and he was shocked that he hadn’t faced someone from his rival before.

“How about that? I’m not going to say anything too inflammatory about Ohio State,” Brady said with a smile. The Buckeyes have won the last eight meetings but Michigan holds the overall record (58-51-6). “I’ll have my time. This is Michigan State week, so those are the guys I can kind of go after.

“That’s interesting. Why is there not a lot of Ohio State quarterbacks in the pros? There were a lot of Michigan guys over the years, but not a lot of Ohio State guys.”

The irony of Brady’s statement is that more Ohio State quarterbacks (seven) have been drafted than Michigan guys (four) during Brady’s NFL career. Somehow, he’s just never had to face any of them before. 

Fields was a first-round draft pick out of Ohio State in 2021. He is only the fourth Buckeye quarterback to be drafted in the first round. The last one was Dwayne Haskins in 2019, who now acts as QB3 for the Steelers.

The Buccaneers vs. Bears game also features the largest quarterback age gap in history. Brady is 44 while Fields is 22, just a little bit older —22 years, 7 months and 17 days, to be exact — than Brady’s entire NFL career.

Sunday’s matchup against the Buccaneers will only be Fields’ fifth NFL start. He is 2-2 so far this season. 

Michigan quarterbacks drafted since 2000

This list contains the quarterbacks drafted after Brady in 2000.

Ohio State quarterbacks drafted since 2000

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