BRADY’S PARTY OF FIVE
Greatness in hand at Pats ring ceremony
New England, this is your Camelot and you are watching its final act.
Tom Brady got his fifth Super Bowl ring last night — one encrusted with diamonds and sprinkled with various pieces of Patriotism.
This ring had much more juice than the bling carried by Frodo Baggins. It transformed a quarterback into a GOAT. It blinded the entire NFL establishment. It was the “next one.” Roger that! Brady spotted the NFL four weeks this past season, then embarked on a very predictable yet immensely satisfying “Revengeance II” tour through the regular season and playoffs.
It still took the greatest comeback this side of Kevin Millar’s “don’t let us win today” to lock up the latest crown jewel in Brady’s 100,000-square-foot vault at Shields MRI.
Now “3-28” — the team’s lowest point in Super Bowl LI — has become another uniquely New England holiday. Call it “Patriots Day, Jr.” The red and blue image from that TV scoreboard has become seared into the psyche of a region once afraid of any and all curses — real and make believe.
Tom Brady turned all of New England into winners — even the Red Sox.
The Super Bowl ebb came on 3rd-and-8 with 4:49 to play in the third quarter. Down 25 points, Brady rumbled up the middle as his pocket collapsed and gained 15 yards. Four plays later, the Patriots would score.
The Falcons were finished.
Brady was just getting started — even after 16 seasons and four previous Super Bowls. Brady’s “Exterminate the Universe — Blitz for Six” tour begins Sept. 7 at Gillette Stadium. Roger Goodell will be there just in case he wasn’t humiliated enough in Houston this past February.
There is a sense of serenity with five rings that goes beyond glory. The number five symbolizes God’s grace toward humans in the Bible. It appears 318 times in Scripture. Even Charlton Heston divided the Ten Commandments into two sets of five — one for Tom and Gisele and another for the rest of us.
Most humans have five senses. Meanwhile, Brady’s sixth sense has been attuned since the Super Bowl championship parade.
Brady’s been unbowed this offseason in spite of multiple distractions. His charity work has been scrutinized and criticized. His wife tossed that nasty concussion grenade on national TV that left Brady’s agent, the Patriots and the NFLPA in DEFCON-1 CYA mode.
He’ll forever be a cheater in 31 of the 32 NFL markets.
And there’s still the “Jimmy G. question.” (Update: Jimmy’s STILL not going anywhere.)
Last night’s Patriots ring celebration was a coronation. Brady has leaped from Boston’s Mount Rushmore to pro sports’ Mount Olympus. Once an also-ran in “the best 5 QBs of all time” debate, Brady has now earned top billing in “the greatest NFL player ever” conversation.
Brady’s record five Super Bowl victories are spread over 15 years and 2 days. His passes are crisper at age 39 than they were at age 25. Two of Brady’s 15 Super Bowl TDs were caught by linebacker and current Houston Texans defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel. Brady set or tied a dozen individual Super Bowl records by the time the Patriots beat the Falcons 34-28 in overtime four months ago.
Early last night, we saw Mr. and Mrs. Brady via social media all glammed up and headed to Tom’s Party of Five.
Enjoy it while you can. Nothing this good lasts forever.