Tom Brady fondly recalls trick-play TD vs. Steelers when reflecting on favorite Patriots memories

BOSTON -- Tom Brady is coming back to Foxboro. It's been on the news. It's a whole thing.

And while this will mark the first official return to New England for the greatest player in Patriots history in his retirement, it surely won't be the last. For now though, Brady is feeling a bit sentimental.

Brady fired up his Threads account on Friday and said to his followers, "Back to New England this weekend! What are your favorite touchdowns from Foxboro over the last 20 years?"

Brady then said "I'll start" and shared a video of his famous double-pass touchdown from the Patriots' 2007 win over the Steelers.

The play involved a backward pass out to Randy Moss, who mishandled the short-hop throw from Brady. Moss then fired the ball back to Brady across the field, and Brady geared up for a deep ball to Jabar Gaffney. It wasn't a perfect throw, but it was good enough for Gaffney to catch in the end zone for a 56-yard touchdown.

"Just how we drew it up, throw the first one short to really sell the fake," Brady said with some laughing emojis.

That was just one of Brady's 541 regular-season touchdowns as a member of the Patriots, but it was part of a memorable day for the Patriots. You may remember Steelers safety Anthony Smith causing a stir that week in 2007 by guaranteeing a win over the Patriots, who were 12-0 at the time. While the Patriots publicly downplayed the comments during the week, it clearly affected them, and Brady went right at Smith several times throughout the game and got in the young safety's face after throwing one touchdown.

It was a rare moment when Brady let the world see that particular side of his insane competitiveness. 

"I don't care to repeat what I said, especially if my mother reads it," Brady said in his postgame press conference when asked about the exchange. "She wouldn't be very happy."  

Even Bill Belichick -- Mr. Ignore The Noise himself -- got in on the postgame fun.

"We've played against a lot better safeties than him, I'll tell you," Belichick said after the 34-13 win.  

Brady threw for 399 yards and four touchdowns in that game, part of the record-setting 16-0, 50-touchdown season he had for New England that year.

Surely, Brady has some other "favorite" touchdowns, but choosing that touchdown, presumably for that reason, shows that the fire never really goes out for a competitor like Brady.