Tom Brady is undoubtedly one of the best, if not the best, football players to ever grace the game. Since his retirement, there hasn’t been a player recognized as the face of the league, but Brady recently announced his pick for who will “carry the torch.”
Tom Brady Picks NFC Quarterback as the Face of the League
On March 21, Fanatics will host the “Flag Football Classic,” a new global flag football event taking place at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The three-team tournament features a wealth of NFL talent, including Saquon Barkley, CeeDee Lamb, Christian McCaffrey, and even Brady himself.
In a promotional event, Brady stood side-by-side with sophomore quarterback Jayden Daniels, announcing that the Commanders quarterback would be taking part in the flag football contest. During the event, Brady had this to say about Daniels:
“You’re always looking for like what’s next in the NFL, who’s really going to carry the torch. From a retired quarterback, there’s nobody I love seeing out there playing on the field more than Jayden.”
What’s hapnin, Captain? 🗣️@TomBrady 🤝 @JayD__5 — LFFFGGGGGGGG pic.twitter.com/DabGJJHUAG
— Fanatics (@Fanatics) January 14, 2026
Maybe the highest praise that Daniels could ever receive would come from Brady, and the G.O.A.T. made sure to give the quarterback his flowers.
In 17 regular-season games during his rookie season (2024), Daniels completed 69.0% of passes for 3568 yards, 25 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. Additionally, he rushed for 891 yards in 148 attempts for six touchdowns and a whopping 55 first downs. In PFSN’s NFL Quarterback Impact Metrics, he ranked as the fifth-best quarterback with an impact score of 86.9 and a letter grade of B.
Daniels also led his team to the conference championship in 2024, but lost to the Philadelphia Eagles. In the playoffs, he has completed 65.8% of passes for 822 yards, five touchdowns, and one interception. He also rushed 135 yards and one touchdown.
However, this season, Daniels suffered a couple of injuries, which led to him only playing in seven games. He suffered a gruesome elbow injury, which appeared to end his season, but it didn’t (at least not at the time). Daniels played again after the injury, but re-aggravation led to the team shutting him down for the season.
In the seven games he did play, he completed 60.6% of his passes for 1262 yards and eight touchdowns, while throwing three interceptions. He added 278 rushing yards and two touchdowns as well.
Brady is right, Daniels definitely has the skills and the brand to “Carry the torch” in the future. However, the Commanders organization and fans could question his playing in the flag football contest, despite having an injury-riddled season. Should the young quarterback play in the event, or should he take the time to continue his recovery?
