Tom Brady Boldly Returns to Path of NFL Immortality with Long-Awaited 2016 Debut

CLEVELAND — The story of Tom Brady’s return actually doesn’t begin here. It starts, as it always does, on the practice field in Foxborough.

During practice last week, it was genuinely like he’d never left, like the NFL hadn’t suspended him for four games, Patriots players said. Several told B/R they were amazed at what they were seeing.

At one point in practice, a few of them looked at each other and smiled, the meaning of which was clear: He’s back.

Brady is not just back. He’s baaaaaack. Throwing for 406 yards and three touchdowns, Brady led the Patriots to an easy 33-13 win over Cleveland at FirstEnergy Stadium on Sunday.

Brady was suspended because of Deflategate (maybe you’ve heard of it), but the suspension did nothing to slow his assault on football immortality. With about two minutes left in the first quarter, he was 8-of-10 for 129 yards, a touchdown and had a 152.1 passer rating. After 18 minutes of play, Brady was 13-of-15 for 185 yards and two touchdowns.

By halftime, the Patriots had 321 yards of offense, their most in a first half since they beat Tennessee 59-0 in 2009, according to CBS.

Yes, Brady was playing the Browns, and though they have showed fight and smarts under new head coach Hue Jackson, the past few decades of their franchise history resembles something between a grease fire and nuclear waste having offspring.

So go ahead and asterisk this Brady moment if you want. But anyone with a half a brain—and no axe to grind—knows what Brady did after so much time away was almost staggering. Even for Brady.

Coming into the game, some media members believed New England would slowly work Brady back into the offense. But anyone who knows how Bill Belichick’s mind works understood that wasn’t going to be the case, particularly after Brady was so crisp in practice. Belichick doesn’t do breaking in.

The offense, and …

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