Tom Brady retired from the NFL this week after 23 seasons, meaning Shaun Alexander might finally be able to keep a promise he made many years ago.

Brady and Alexander faced off in the final college game for each, with Brady’s Michigan Wolverines beating Alexander’s Alabama Crimson Tide 35-34 in overtime in the 2000 Orange Bowl. They were also members of the 2000 NFL draft class, Alexander going in the first round (No. 19 overall) to the Seattle Seahawks and Brady famously lasting until the sixth round, when the New England Patriots took him with the 199th overall pick.

“I told Tom when we were at the Pro Bowl one year, back when we were in our 20s, I said ‘when we retire, we’re going to become good friends,’” the 45-year-old Alexander said Thursday night before appearing as one of the panelists at the annual Reese’s Senior Bowl Summit at the Saenger Theatre in Mobile. “… I just texted him this morning. I was like ‘oh, I guess we’ve got to figure out how to be friends now.’

“I’m so, so very proud of him. His career is something that everybody is going to remember forever. And it’s kind of wild that he’s finally retired, and I’ve been done for more than 10 years now.”

Alexander played in the 2000 Senior Bowl before embarking on a 9-year NFL career that included a league Most Valuable Player Award in 2005, when he helped the Seahawks reach the Super Bowl. He rushed for 32 yards on seven carries in the Senior Bowl, with his South team losing 24-21 to the North at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

He performed much better in that Orange Bowl vs. Michigan, running for 161 yards and three touchdowns. Still, he was outshone by Brady, who passed for 369 yards and four scores as the Wolverines overcame a pair of two-touchdown deficits.

“I just remember being like ‘I thought Michigan was a running school,’” Alexander said. “This quarterback started slinging the rock, and we lose in overtime. We talked at the (NFL) Rookie Symposium and I said ‘you’re going to be great.’ And he said ‘man, you think so?’

“And I said, humble as I could say, ‘there’s (only) a few times where I know I’m in a zone and we get beat.’ And I was in a zone at that Orange Bowl, and thought ‘well, somebody’s going to have to play lights out to beat us.’ And he did, and they won. … And after (the Patriots) won their second Super Bowl, I said ‘I guess I’m going to be right.’ … I just have great memories of playing him in that Orange Bowl and watching him throughout his career.”

Alexander left Alabama as the Crimson Tide’s all-time leading rusher, and held 15 school records overall at the time. He said he’s seen those records fall repeatedly in recent years, as many of his marks have been surpassed by the likes of Derrick Henry, Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson and Najee Harris.

However, nearly 25 years after his last game with the Crimson Tide, Alexander still holds the program single-game records for rushing yards (291 vs. LSU in 1996) and rushing touchdowns in a game (5 vs. BYU in 1998). But if those standards are eventually surpassed as well, that’s not surprising at a program like Alabama, he said.

“That’s the cool thing about Alabama — we don’t retire jerseys, because we expect everybody to be great,” Alexander said. “So your job at our school is not to try to win something that no one else can touch, it’s to carry on this legacy. That’s Alabama football. … You want these guys to come in and do great at Alabama. If they do great, they’re set up for a really successful life. We get to see that, and it’s been year-in and year-out. So it’s been pretty wonderful.”

Alexander — who was inducted into the Seahawks Ring of Honor this past October — played at Alabama from 1996-99, and was part of two SEC West championships, plus an SEC championship as a senior. That SEC title was one of just two the Crimson Tide won between 1981 and 2009 (the 1992 national title season being the other).

Since Nick Saban took over in 2007, the Crimson Tide has won eight SEC championships and six national titles. Like a lot of Alabama alums, Alexander has watched in awe at how high of a bar Saban has set in Tuscaloosa.

“What they’re doing is amazing,” Alexander said. “I’m so proud of Coach Saban. Right when I was ready to retire (from the NFL in 2008), the first game I went to was the ‘Blackout’ in Georgia. Some people called it a funeral, and it took (Georgia) a little time to wake up from that. It’s been great to go and watch all the boys grow as players and young men and watch these guys in the pros. It’s just been amazing.

“Coach Saban had a plan from the beginning to help our university remember that we are a school of championships and about helping young men become great men. And he’s allowed me to be a part of it. So it’s been an honor and it’s going to be cool to see this thing keep on going.”

The 2023 Reese’s Senior Bowl kicks off at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Hancock Whitney Stadium, with television coverage via NFL Network. For ticket information, visit SeniorBowl.com/tickets.