In 2001, it wasn’t called Hollywood Studios yet!
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)With the news that Tom Brady is retiring today, it's incredible to look back to where we were the day before he first stepped on to the field on September 23, 2001. I was living near Boston at the time.
Brady didn't start that game. He was called in late in a Patriots game to replace an injured Drew Bledsoe. My being a Bucs fan was still a few decades away. I grew up in Maine and remember how let down I was that day. I was all in for the Patriots. The Pats were building momentum and losing Bledsoe felt like a kick in the gut. This Brady kid was a 6th round draft pick. We felt doomed.
Here's a trip back in time in photos to that year... it really puts Brady's incredible longevity of dominance in perspective.
When Tom Brady took the field for the first time...
Andrei Vasilevskiy was 7 years old.
Dave Sanford /AllsportHere's fellow Russian Nikolai Khabibulin when the Tampa Bay Lightning had a very different look.
Music was about to go through a big change.
Koichi Kamoshida/Getty ImagesWe were introduced to the iPod and iTunes.
We met Shrek.
(Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)And Eddie Murphy was a donkey.
Wikipedia Was Invented
(Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)But really who needs to use a computer to look stuff up when we have all those encyclopedias? What a complete waste of time.
Boybands were everywhere.
Photo by Scott Gries/ImageDirectThere were the Backstreet Boys, there was 98 Degrees. Pictured here is N SYNC as they rehearsed for the Superbowl halftime show produced by MTV at The Lakeland Center on January 24, 2001.
Gas prices...
Tim Boyle/NewsmakersA gallon of gas cost you $1.46.
"Whassuupppp" was the thing. Some never let it go.
(Photo by Aimee Jeansonne Becka/Busch Gardens Tampa Bay via Getty Images)The Budweiser "Whassup?!" actors Scott Brooks, Paul Williams, Fred Thomas and Puerto Rock ride Busch Gardens Tampa Bay''s Montu.
Tampa hosted the Super Bowl.
Andy Lyons/AllsportLater we found out it was a lot more fun to host the Super Bowl while winning it.
Dawson's Creek was a thing.
2000 Columbia/TriStar International Television. A Sony Pictures Entertainment CompanyDawson and Pacey were still fighting over Katie Holmes, who hadn't met Tom Cruise yet.
We were the Devil Rays...
Chris Livingston/ALLSPORTThe Tampa Bay DEVIL Rays weren't doing so well in the standings or with attendance. Some things changed.
Michael Strahan played football?
Andy Lyons/ALLSPORTThe New York Giant as Media Day at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida the sight of Super Bowl XXXV. The New York Giants played the Baltimore Ravens.
The Coach Spurrier days...
Matthew Stockman/ALLSPORTHead coach Steve Spurrier of the Florida Gators confers with quarterback Rex Grossman #8 during the Nokia Sugar Bowl against the Miami Hurricanes at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The average home price in America...
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)About $136,000 in 2021.
And of course... we were coming together and looking to rebuild.
(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)Tom Brady's debut came just days after the 9/11 attacks on New York City and Washington DC.
