Brady defies Father Time with third NFL MVP title
Tom Brady added to his legendary status by winning his third career NFL MVP award at age 40.
The New England quarterback added Saturday to the awards he won in the 2007 and 2010 seasons. He is also a four-time Super Bowl MVP and he has put any debate about the best quarterback in the history of the league to rest.
The award is based on regular season considerations only and Brady spent this season putting to rest any notion his production would dip once he reached the wrong side of 40. He played in all 16 games and threw for 4,577 yards while amassing 32 touchdown passes to go with eight interceptions.
“I don’t think about legacy. I’ve never thought about that. I think my motivation just comes from me just trying to be the best I can be for this team,” Brady said this week.
It was 16 years ago that the Patriots beat the St. Louis Rams as underdogs for their first Super Bowl triumph. Then, Brady was not far removed from being a skinny sixthround draft choice out of Michigan, although he disputed in recent days the lore that he’d told Patriots owner Robert Kraft at the time that selecting him would be the best decision the organization ever made.
“What I believe I said was, ‘You’ll never regret picking me,’” Brady said. “I think I was just excited to be a part of the Patriots. I didn’t know much about the franchise growing up in California, being a 49ers fan, being in the NFC, being in the other part of the country. The Patriots didn’t have a great team, so it’s not like they were on TV very often.”
It was also a good night for the Los Angeles Rams with Sean McVay named coach of the year, defensive tackle Aaron Donald named defensive player of the year and running back Todd Gurley named offensive player of the year. The New Orleans Saints swept the rookie awards as running back Alvin Kamara was named offensive rookie of the year and cornerback Marshon Lattimore was named defensive rookie of the year.