Paige Spiranac Backs The Steelers, Drew Brees Has New Hair & John Daly Impressing The Ladies

Did it look like Tom Brady has lost a step?

My knee was hurting last night. I have this problem where while sitting at my desk I tend to bend my knee in ridiculous ways and it's starting to catch up with me. Last night, while sitting on the basement couch watching Tom Brady and the Cowboys-Buccaneers game, the knee was really flared up to the point where I thought it might take a bag of ice to calm things down.

And all I could think of is Tom Brady being the same age and throwing footballs like he's 25. Stepping into throws. Wobbling out of the pocket when necessary. And staying up past 11 p.m.! That might be the most impressive thing about Tom's run -- the guy is 44 and somehow capable of maintaining his athletic stamina past the nightly news.

If we learned anything from last night besides the fact that that Buccaneers clearly look like they could repeat, it's that Tom Brady hasn't lost a step since winning the Super Bowl back in February. I don't care if he's on some sort of celery PEDs that have cleansed every last cell in his body. I don't care if he beat Jeff Bezos in the race to reverse aging. Whatever this guy has going on, it's great for the NFL.

It's giving guys like myself, and my sore knee, something to root for when our teams are eliminated -- my Bengals should be out of if after Week 3 in Pittsburgh where I'll be praying more than usual for Joe Burrow's knee. I'm barely hanging on for dear life around 10:45 ET as Tommy's deep into the third quarter as my basement blanket is starting to kick in with its magical powers. Somehow, someway, the guy just keeps motoring along as us middle-aged dads fade off into I gotta be up at 5:30 to strap on the work boots mode.

Then we wake up to find out that Brady won again in his 300th career start. And did I hear that correctly last night -- Brady's never started a game where his team is out of playoff contention? Stop and think about that for a minute.

I'll be over here icing my knee and thinking about it.

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• Brian L. writes:
Did NBC air the national anthem of the United States of America before tonight's BUCS/Boys game?
I have to be completely honest, I was watering spots where the armyworm destroyed my yard and taking out the trash during the pregame festivities. It wasn't some sort of protest on my part, I really needed to get this stuff done. OutKick's Alejandro Avila wrote about how the NFL trotted out its black national anthem like they did in 2020. It sounds like the black anthem was played just before the national anthem.

• Michael V. is a Gauntlet commissioner who writes:

Last night I hosted a Gauntlet draft and I think it went pretty well. Only took about an hour and the guys seem to be excited about it. Thanks to you and Tim for the idea. I drafted Tampa Bay, Dallas, Tennessee and Jacksonville.

I'm in the same boat as Michael V. I had to sit there and watch the Cowboys let a victory slip out of their hands. Oh well, the schedule gets easier.

• TNML member Jeff M., who sent his son, Zack, off to D2 Tusculum College for his freshman year of college football, has news and it's not great. Get healthy, Zack:

Hey Joe, just wanted to update you on TNML's favorite D2 TE. It's been a tough 4 weeks for Z. First he got contact traced, then after a 5-day quarantine he had to take a covid test to get back on campus, and it came back positive! Back into quarantine for 10 days. Overall he missed 2 full weeks of practice and both preseason scrimmages, along with his first full week of college classes. He finally got back on campus and went to 3 practices. Unfortunately last Sunday afternoon he sprained his ankle badly. X-rays were negative but he'll be out 4-6 weeks at least. Pics of his ankle are included if you don't get queasy. He's in good spirits and in true TNML tradition he'll keep grinding!

• In case you haven't seen the line of the year, Kansas is a 25.5 (via FanDuel) DOG on the road tonight at Coastal Carolina. Let me repeat that if you're on the West Coast and still a little sleepy -- KANSAS IS A 25.5 DOG TONIGHT AT COASTAL CAROLINA. Keep in mind, the Jayhawks are coming off their first win -- 17-14 over South Dakota -- since 2019. I haven't looked up the Coastal roster, but they must have everyone back from that loaded 2020 team. I get that Kansas is horrible and should probably be a D1-AA program, but still.

You can catch tonight's game on ESPN2.

• I'll put this one in the TNML roundup, but I wanted the Screencaps community to see what TNML Ryan Olds sent. There is garage fridge art and then there's Ryan's garage fridge loaded for the weekend. Ryan might've just given birth to my winter project: Garage Fridge Art.

Someone beat this! Email your Garage Fridge Art: joekinsey@gmail.com

• And finally this morning, I've formally been invited to Bob & Tara C.'s tailgate for the Alabama-A&M game on October 9. This is big, guys. Look at the menu. That's it, I'm looking at airfare this afternoon.

Bob & Tara write:

We would like to invite you to come by our tailgate for some Texas BBQ. Check out my new custom pit. I will be cooking beef ribs, baby back ribs, sausage and turkey for this game, as long as it is a night kickoff. Oh, get there early for some smoked pulled pork queso. Smoked green chili Mac N Cheese is always a fan favorite.

Our tailgate is usually 60-80 people, and we outgrew my old BBQ pit.

Let me know if you can fit this in for your weekend when we knock off the evil empire.

Thanks and Gig’ em!

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