happybrady-getty.jpg
Getty Images

Tom Brady has been known to storm off the field without shaking hands after losing a game, but that definitely wasn't the case following the Buccaneers' 35-7 loss to the 49ers. 

Despite the beat down, not only did Brady stay on the field to chat with a few 49ers players after the game, but he also did something he said he would never do again: He autographed a football that he threw for an interception. 

Brady threw two picks against the 49ers and one of those went to Dre Greenlaw, who made an impressive play in the third quarter when he picked off Brady after tipping the pass to himself. 

When you pick off Tom Brady, that's a big deal, so Greenlaw decided to keep the football. After the game, he actually had the football in his hand and that's because he wanted Brady to AUTOGRAPH it. 

Although asking a quarterback to sign a ball that you picked off could turn into a potentially awkward situation, that's not what happened here. Greenlaw asked nicely and Brady came through with the autograph. 

"Please, could you sign the ball," Greenlaw asked the NFL legend. "I just want you to know, you're the greatest ever."

During his postgame press conference, Greenlaw said that he turned into a "fan girl" around Brady. He also added that he was well aware that there was a chance that Brady might not sign the ball for him. 

"Man, the worst thing he could tell me is no," Greenlaw said, via NBC Sports Bay Area. "I was always told, if you don't ask, you'll never know. He is a good guy to be able to sign that ball after he threw them picks. That's big time. I appreciate it. He is the greatest. He's the GOAT."

Greenlaw said asking nicely for the autograph was part of his plan to get Brady to sign the ball. 

"I tried to soothe him up, make him feel better, 'Man, yeah, you're the greatest ever,' all that good stuff," Greenlaw said. "But he is, he is."

The fact that Brady ended up signing the ball was somewhat surprising and that's because he vowed to never sign an interception-ball ever again. 

Following a Week 17 win over the Jets last season, Brady was in a similar situation and although he ended up signing the ball that he had thrown for an interception against New York, he made it sound like signing an interception-ball was something that he was never going to do again. 

"I don't necessarily like signing mistakes, let me just say that," Brady said in January, via SI. "So that's the last time I'm going to do that."

Maybe it's his old age, but Brady seems to have softened up and the big winner of that is Greenlaw, who now has a souvenir that he'll be able to cherish for years to come.