All about Brady: Is the GOAT finally gone for good?

By Ron Howell, 6SRUWV (GLWRU 6ZHHWZDWHU 5HSRUWHU

Tom Brady finally has retired, this time (he says) for good. That’s big news, no matter who you talk to.

Sports fans and non-sports fans know his name. Sports fans know Brady as arguably the greatest quarterback in NFL history (or as they say now, the GOAT) who has set countless records, most importantly his seven Super Bowl victories in 10 trips to the big game.

That’s three more than his closest competitors, Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana, who have four apiece.

It’s also one more than any team has won. Brady’s first six Super Bowl wins were in New England, where he spent his first 20 seasons, and he also won a Super Bowl during his last three years with Tampa Bay. Pittsburgh is the only other NFL franchise with six Super Bowl victories.

Non-sports fans, especially women, know Brady because he was married to supermodel Gisele Bundchen until their divorce several months ago; and many consider him a hunk and even a fashion trendsetter. And a lot of them watch the Super Bowl, so they’ve seen Brady play.

Speaking of that, there is a movie out called “80 for Brady” starring Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno and Sally Field as four older female friends and longtime Patriots fans who travel to watch their hero and his team play in the Super Bowl. It was released in theaters by Paramount Pictures on Feb. 3, two days after Brady announced his retirement from the NFL after 23 seasons.

Brady is also an inspiration to older athletes. With the exception of hockey’s Gordie Howe, no one in any sport has ever played as well or had as much success after turning 40 as has Brady, who turned 40 in 2017.

That continued excellence in America’s favorite sport, along with the decline of golfer Tiger Woods, has helped make Brady the most famous and celebrated athlete in the country.

Is he the greatest ever? Probably not. But he certainly has enough records and hardware to make a strong case as the best in the past 50 years, at least in team sports.

In my opinion, only basketball’s Michael Jordan — who led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships during his prime in the 1990s — can compare as an athlete who was universally considered the best at his position while also winning a high number of championships. But Jordan was only 35 when he won his last title, eight years younger than Brady when he won his last Super Bowl at Tampa Bay.

Brady has been the biggest winner of any player in NFL history. But he has been involved in a few controversies as well. The latter has been true of numerous great athletes, including Woods, whose fall from grace began when he was at or near the top of his game. His personal indiscretions, plus a number of serious injuries, eventually eroded his game and some of his popularity while Brady eventually surpassed him at the country’s most recognizable athlete.

Unlike Woods, Brady wasn’t an instant sensation in the pros. He had a solid if unspectacular career as the starting quarterback for the University of Michigan in the late 1990s, but after an unimpressive NFL Scouting Combine performance, he was not selected until the sixth round ofthe 2000 NFL Draft by the Patriots. He was the 199th overall pick and the seventh quarterback taken.

Considering what Brady would eventually accomplish, it may have been the best NFL draft pick of all time. But that success didn’t happen right away.

He began his first season in New England as

the fourth-string quarterback and completed only one pass all year, for six yards. He did move up to number two on the depth chart by the end of the season.

Then in 2001, Brady got his big chance when starter Drew Bledsoe was seriously hurt in the Patriots’ second game and New England started 0-2. Under their new quarterback the Patriots won 11 of their final 14 regular season games, including the last six, to win the AFC East title and earn a first-round bye. Brady was injured in the AFC Championship Game and relieved by Bledsoe, but he returned to lead New England to a dramatic 20-17 win over the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. The Patriots came in as a 14-point underdog, but won on a 48-yard Adam Vinatieri field goal as time expired.

Brady’s fame grew considerably after he led New England to two more Super Bowl wins after the 2003 and 2004 seasons. In ’03 the Patriots beat the Carolina Panthers 32-29, again thanks to a late Vinatieri field goal but after Brady drove them down the field in the final minute of the game. In ’04, it was yet another three-point Super Bowl win, 24-21, over the Philadelphia Eagles for their third championship in four years. New England also became the last franchise to win back-to-back Super Bowls.

A little bit of the luster came off over the next nine years (2005-13), though New England and Brady continued to be dominant forces.

After 10 straight victories, Brady suffered his first playoff loss in 2005, then another playoff loss in 2006 to perhaps his biggest rivals, Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. The latter was a 38-34 setback in the AFC Championship game to the Colts, who rallied from a 21-3 deficit and went on to win the Super Bowl over the

Chicago Bears.

In 2007, Brady probably had the greatest season of any quarterback in NFL history. He threw for 4,806 yards, 50 touchdowns and just eight interceptions in leading New England to a perfect 16-0 record — the first team to ever finish the regular season 16-0. The Patriots then made it back to the Super Bowl for the fourth time with Brady, only to be defeated 17-14 by the New York Giants — led at quarterback by Peyton Man

ning’s younger brother Eli. It was one of the biggest Super Bowl upsets ever, as New England came in a 12-point favorite over a Giants team that was just 10-6 during the regular season.

Four years later, however, the Giants — and Eli Manning — upset the Patriots again in Super Bowl XLVI by a score of 21-17. Once again, New England had a far superior regular season record, finishing 13-3 to New York’s 9-7, but the Giants rallied from a 17-9 deficit in the big game to score the winning touchdown with 57 seconds left.

In 2014 — a full decade after their third Super Bowl victory — the Patriots and Brady finally regained their full swagger by winning their fourth Super Bowl, 28-24 over Seattle. The season was not without controversy, which occurred in that year’s AFC Championship game against Indianapolis that New England won handily, 45-7. Brady was accused of ordering the deliberate deflation of footballs that were used in the victory, which he denied doing. However, it resulted in him being suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season.

The 2014 Super Bowl had an amazing finish. The Patriots were in danger of a third straight Super Bowl loss when the Seahawks drove to New England’s 1-yard line, only to be intercepted by Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler as New England held on for the victory.

In 2015, the Patriots reached the AFC Championship game for the fifth straight year, but lost to Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos 20-18 after a potential game-tying two-point conversion failed in the final minute.

But in 2016, New England won its fifth Super Bowl, even though Brady had to sit out the first four games due to his “Deflategate” suspension. In the big game, Brady helped the Patriots

engineer the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history in a 34-28 win over the Atlanta Falcons. New England rallied from a 28-3 third quarter deficit to force overtime, then scored a touchdown in OT after winning the coin toss.

The 2016 season was the first of three straight Super Bowl appearances by Brady and the Patriots, but they failed to defend their title in 2017 after losing to Philadelphia 41-33. That game came within one point of tying the record for the highest scoring game in Super Bowl history.

The 2018 season saw New England win a sixth Super Bowl under Brady’s leadership (against three losses), and its second in three years, by a score of 13-3 over the Los Angeles Rams in the lowest scoring game in Super Bowl history. At age 41, Brady became the oldest quarterback ever to win a Super Bowl.

In 2019, Brady and the Patriots won the AFC East title for the 11th straight year but were denied a firstround bye for the first time since 2009. They then lost to the Tennessee Titans, 20-13, in the wild card round in what was Brady’s last game with the team. A month later, he announced he would not re-sign and ended his 20-year tenure in New England, all under head coach Bill Belichick. Three days later, he signed a two-year contract with Tampa Bay.

The 2020 season has to rank among the most special for Brady. The Buccaneers failed to win the NFC South, but still reached the playoffs, for the first time since 2007, as a wild card team. They then beat Washington, New Orleans and Green Bay to reach the Super Bowl, marking the 43-year-old Brady’s record-extending 10th Super Bowl appearance.

That year Tampa Bay became the first team to play in a Super Bowl in its home stadium, where the Buccaneers faced and whipped the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 for Brady’s seventh NFL title. Once again, Brady was the oldest quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl and he was named the game’s MVP for a record fifth time. It was also his first Super Bowl victory under a coach other than Belichick. And he revealed later that he played the entire season with a torn MCL.

Brady returned for the 2021 season at Tampa Bay, and continued to play at an extremely high level while leading the Buccaneers to the NFC South title with a franchise-record 13 victories. They then beat Philadelphia 31-15 before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams 3027 in the divisional playoffs.

On Feb. 1, 2022, the 44-year-old Brady announced his retirement. But just 40 days later, he announced he would return for a third season with Tampa Bay.

The season saw the Buccaneers repeat at NFC South champions, but with a record of 8-9 —Brady’s first-ever losing season as a starter. Nevertheless, he continued to be an incredibly efficient quarterback at age 45, breaking his own NFL records for pass completions (490) and attempts (733) in a season. But after making a third straight playoff appearance, Brady and Tampa Bay lost 31-14 to the Dallas Cowboys in the wild card round.

Then on Feb. 1 of this year, Brady retired again for good.

When will NFL fans see him again?

Last year, Fox Sports announced that following Brady’s playing career,he would join the network as the lead color commentator. But if Brady has his way, he won’t start his new career until the 2024 football season.

Yet I’m still not convinced that he is quite ready to retire, especially after a less than satisfying finish to 2022. And the guy can obviously still play.

So just maybe you will see him playing again at least one more year.

And who says he can’t win an eighth Super Bowl title at age 46?