Jameis Winston meets Tom Brady after the game, says “it was an honor”

Photo courtesy of @MikeReiss on Twitter

It was a moment he had hoped for all night.

Earlier in the week, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston had mentioned how excited he was to see “one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game” line up against him, but the situation had him wondering what to actually say to the New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady, if he got the chance to meet him.

And finally, after the Patriots’ 19-14 win over the Buccaneers, Winston got the opportunity to meet one of his idols.

“I just said, ‘It was an honor.’ I told him thank you. A lot,” Winston said as the two quarterbacks met in the tunnel of Raymond James Stadium after the game. “That’s a blessing man, to meet someone like that. I dream to be able to be the type of quarterback he is for his team to our team.”

“Utmost respect for him,” Winston continued. “He’s definitely an inspiration to me and the quarterback position, definitely. Like every young kid growing up with a football in their hand aspiring to be like Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Joe Montana – guys of that nature. It was a privilege and an honor to meet him, to look him in his eye, to shake his hand. It felt good. That was another highlight of my night.”

Brady also had kind words to say about the young, impressive quarterback.

“I watch those guys and try to learn from them. When I was young, I learned from the older guys. And now that I’m older, I’m trying to learn from the young guys. [Jameis] is a great young player and he obviously led the team back tonight, and they were very close. He’s got a great future.”

Tampa Bay ended the night in a hard-fought loss, but Jameis Winston is walking away happy and inspired.

“I hate that he beat me,” he said. “But he beats a lot of people.”

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