Tom Brady just broke football. He destroyed the history books and accomplished what no one thought possible. So let’s stop pretending he’s not the G.O.A.T. and just admire this genetically gifted and insanely talented human being. If the chin dimple and the ads for man Uggs haven’t won you over already, let’s talk some Tom for a hot second.
The stats finally prove it, but we’ve known the truth all along. Brady defied expectations after being drafted as a sixth round pick for the New England Patriots in 2000, as he became the then-youngest ever quarterback to win a Super Bowl in the 2001 season. Since then, Brady has continued essentially to win at life in general. Along with a booming football career, Brady also boasts an incredibly accomplished wife, Gisele Bundchen, and his two children with her. Tom and Gisele are like that hot couple that you want to hate, but they’re just so freaking cute even when Gisele says dumb sh*t like this:
“My husband cannot f***ing throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time. I can’t believe they dropped the ball so many times.” (via TheInsider.com)
Despite the controversy surrounding Brady’s personal life (@ his first son) and professional career (@ Deflategate), he STILL proves himself as the greatest quarterback of all time AND one of the greatest professional athletes ever. In tonight’s historic battle for the Lombardi, Brady shocked us all with his lackluster performance in the first half of the game. The Patriots seemed off, and the outlook was fairly bleak for Pats fans. But Brady and his stellar teammates pulled off what I would have previously described as a comeback only possible for Aaron Rodgers and his legendary Hail Mary miracles. This was a night of firsts. It was Brady’s first postseason pick-six, the NFL’s first ever Super Bowl overtime, and the first time a quarterback has ever won five Super Bowl rings. It’s also the first time a lot of naysayers will finally admit to themselves that Brady truly is the greatest of all time.
To echo Yogi Berra’s great quote, “It ain’t over til it’s over,” Brady and his teammates cannot be underestimated. I bet people even left this game early to beat the traffic, confident that it was all over (side note: if you leave a Super Bowl early we won’t ever be friends). Brady doesn’t stop until every possible option has been exhausted and all hope is lost. The clock is never your friend when going up against the Pats. As a New Orleans Saints fan, I know this all too well. And it brings me such joy witnessing the Dirty Birds lose in such devastating embarrassment, as the Saints have done much worse and many more times before.
Brady never gives up, which is a testament to his character and determination as a person. Rather than crumbling under the pressure of his team’s expectations after Deflategate, Brady used this as motivation to quiet all of the haters, who dubbed him a cheater and a liar. Tonight the haters are silent (or they’re intoxicated Falcons fans still recovering from the sheer shock of what has just happened and insisting that the NFL is rigged or whatever). And if this story wasn’t perfect enough, Brady got to win it all for his mother, who was present despite her own health struggles.
I think everyone can take away something valuable from Brady’s story and his career. I hope younger kids watching Brady understand that he didn’t start on the top, and nothing was simply handed to him. He has proved himself time and time again to an unforgiving national audience. Perseverance is key to this team’s success, and Brady has led an impressive career with this franchise for the past seventeen years because of that. It’s easy to look at Brady and wish that someone else could win for once or think that his life has been and will always be perfection (okay, the man Ugg ads don’t help his case).
But, I hope football fans and people who will only pretend that they watched this game can appreciate the hard work and the team effort that goes into such a legendary team led by a record-shattering, expectation-defying veteran quarterback, Tom Brady, a.k.a. THE G.O.A.T.
And if you’re still a hater, let’s be honest, you’re just jealous of his god-like hair flow and/or his supermodel wife.