Brady and Patriots looking forward, not back
MINNEAPOLIS: The New England Patriots say they have left past glories firmly in the rear-view mirror as they look ahead to Sunday's National Football League Super Bowl clash with the Philadelphia Eagles.
The most dominant franchise of the past two decades will etch themselves into the record books on Sunday if they claim a sixth Lombardi Trophy, putting them alongside the Pittsburgh Steelers with the most titles in history.
But Bill Belichick's team say their sole focus remains the four quarters of combat against the Eagles at the US Bank Stadium.
Running back James White, who scored a record 20 points in last year's epic against Atlanta -- three touchdowns and a two-point conversion -- said he rarely thinks about his MVP-worthy performance in Houston 12 months ago.
"This is a 'What have you done for me lately?' league," White told AFP. "You've always got to prove yourself and that's what I've been trying to do ever since.
"Houston for me is over. It was over two weeks afterwards," he added. "You never stop having to prove yourself in this team."
White's mantra would no doubt win firm approval from Tom Brady.
The Patriots quarterback has his gaze fixed squarely on the challenge of the Eagles in what will be his eighth Super Bowl appearance.
The 40-year-old icon is determined to avoid a repeat of the two Super Bowl defeats he suffered against the New York Giants in the 2007 and 2011 seasons.
"The ones that we lost are very painful," Brady told AFP. "You put a lot into it and when it doesn't go well, you wake up the next day and you're thinking it was a nightmare. You're thinking 'Man, did that really happen?'.
"That's what I remember from those two losses."
Brady, however, who would become the first player to win six Super Bowls if Philadelphia are vanquished this weekend, has long learned to leave the past behind.
Like White, Brady has consigned last year's record comeback against Atlanta, where he inspired the Patriots as they overturned a 28-3 deficit, to history.