It seems the Pro Bowl is no longer the best place to be if you want to see all the NFL’s most famous players in one spot, and that’s because that honor now belongs to the Kentucky Derby.
The 145th annual Run for the Roses is being held on Saturday, and apparently, the annual horse race in Louisville has turned into the social event of the offseason for NFL players. Nearly everyone who’s anyone is there, including Tom Brady, who made his return to the derby after missing last year’s event.
If there was ever any tension between Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo during their final year together in New England, it’s clearly in the past. Not only is Garoppolo at the Kentucky Derby, but he’s been hanging out with Brady, and we know that because the 41-year-old quarterback shared a picture of his derby crew on Saturday.
If Wikipedia ever decides to create a page to list all of Brady’s backup quarterbacks during his career, they should probably just go ahead and use that photo. Besides Garoppolo, the picture also includes Jacoby Brissett, Matt Cassel and Kliff Kingsbury, who all served as Brady’s backup at one point in their careers.
Speaking of Kingsbury, he’s not the only NFL coach in that photo. Titans coach Mike Vrabel is in the very back, behind Brissett.
Since the Kentucky Derby is basically the Super Bowl of the horse racing world, it’s almost fitting that both Super Bowl coaches are at Churchill Downs for the race. Patriots coach Bill Belichick is at the derby with his long time girlfriend, Linda Holliday.
As for Rams coach Sean McVay, he snuck away from his girlfriend (Veronika Khomyn) to take a picture with Rams general manager Les Snead.
If you’re scoring at home, that means that four out of the NFL’s 32 head coaches are at the derby.
As for quarterbacks, Brady wasn’t the only one to roll into town with a huge posse. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers also showed up to Churchill Downs with a big group.
Things were a little bit more calm for Baker Mayfield, who walked the red carpet at Churchill Downs with his fiancee, Emily Wilkinson.
Of course, Mayfield didn’t spend all his time in Louisville hanging out with his fiancee.
The Browns quarterback got a chance to hang out with Brady and several other players on Friday at the Barnstable Brown Derby Eve Gala, a charity event that’s in its 31st year.
If you get on the guest list for that thing, there’s a 198 percent chance you’ll meet someone famous.
One NFL player you’ll be seeing a lot at the derby is Von Miller. The Broncos‘ pass rusher has been hired by NBC for the day to serve as the network’s lifestyle correspondent at the race. If you’re wondering what that job entails, here’s what he’s wearing.
The post time for the Kentucky Derby is at 6:50 p.m. ET on Saturday. For the latest on the 145th Run for the Roses, follow all the action in our live blog.
Finally, here’s the best NFL-related picture from the derby so far, and we’ve decided it’s the best because it’s the only one that features players who have combined to win a total of six Super Bowl MVP awards.