Getty Image / Tom Pennington
NFL fans watching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers face the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football were in awe of 45-year-old Tom Brady throwing passes to 33-year-old Julio Jones.
Brady is now the oldest quarterback in NFL history, the oldest MVP, oldest Super Bowl MVP, and the oldest QB to be selected to a Pro Bowl. And 7-time Pro Bowler Julio Jones has been one of the league’s most dangerous wide receivers for over a decade and nobody could’ve ever imagined he’d wind up at a Falcons rival catching passes from the GOAT. But here we are.
Advanced stats reveal Buccaneers WR Julio Jones was astonishingly fast on ‘Sunday Night Football’ and it wasn’t just your imagination playing tricks on you.
Anyone watching SNF saw Julio Jones looking as fast as ever. There was a lot of chatter on Twitter about it. Some people figured it was just their imaginations acting up because he’s 33 years old and coming off a lackluster year with the Tennessee Titans. But he looked SHARP, and advanced stats revealed it wasn’t just clever camerawork:
Faster than the entire Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver corps?!
One more quick tidbit before the games begin: #Bucs WR Julio Jones clocked the fastest time of any player on his team during training camp practices, I’m told. If you are wondering how he’s been in Tampa 💨
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 11, 2022
How fast is Julio Jones? This fast:
Update from @NFLResearch: Julio Jones was FAST https://t.co/AIWB8zSXIu pic.twitter.com/l53IpCCFbE
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 12, 2022
Julio reached the 7th fastest of any ball carrier in Week 1. He reached top speeds of 20.62 MPH on his 48-yard reception and 19.98 MPH on his 12-yard rush. He clocked 2 of his 3 fastest speeds since 2020 against the Dallas Cowboys. HE’S BACK. Here’s a look at how Julio Jones was playing last night if you missed it:
NFL fans had jokes about how fast Julio was in his Tampa Bay Buccaneers debut.
It’s that TB12 method:
Random drug test this week for Julio thx to @RapSheet reporting. 😂🤣
— AV (@MIPackFan) September 12, 2022
I’m sitting here asking myself why I’m not on the TB12 method yet:
The TB12 method is actually super soldier serum
— 👻 joe schiavi 🎃 (@ScoundrelPrez) September 12, 2022
Tampa Bay has plenty of depth at wide receiver which means Julio Jones will get opportunities to rest when he needs it:
Give him lots of breaks. They know how to rotate them in Tampa.
— Trade Review (@tradereviewguy) September 12, 2022
Is it possible the Buccaneers actually improved the team’s offense over last year?!
Saw him fly down the sideline live – he looked like the Julio of old. Hope he stays healthy.
— 👑 GETTLEGOD 👑 (@danrymas) September 12, 2022
One can’t help but imagine just how next-level good the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense would be if Rob Gronkowski suddenly decided to come out of retirement. It would also be surreal to see Gronk, Brady, and Julio dominating defenses who were in elementary school when Brady was winning Super Bowls.
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