Bradys resume battle
Mom vs. cancer; Dad vs. QB’s detractors
The Super Bowl euphoria was off the charts and so uplifting in the moment. But for the Brady family, the fight goes on.
Tom Brady’s mother Galynn is back in California, looking to resume cancer treatment, hopeful there won’t be any hiccups preventing her from starting an upcoming round of radiation. That was the message from Brady’s dad, who spoke with the Herald yesterday.
“The Super Bowl was an unbelievable deal,” Tom Brady Sr. said. “It was so exhilarating, but we’re back to reality. We’re back to where we were a week ago trying to deal with this stuff. Look, by no means is Galynn’s condition damper on anything, it just is what it is. We’re keeping the faith. We’re going to beat this thing.”
Getting Galynn Brady to Houston was the first miracle, as she needed clearance from doctors to travel and didn’t get it until Wednesday of last week. Having just finished months of chemotherapy, she summon the energy for the trip, and with the help of family members made it through to watch her son perform the next miracle during the Patriots’ 34-28 overtime win against the Falcons.
“It was great, it was one of the happiest moments that we’ve had in a couple of years, and we wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Tom Sr. said.
But the greatest gift dad got out of the entire week? It was the fact that others got to see a different side of his son.
The reputation of the quarterback took a major hit thanks to Deflategate and commissioner Roger Goodell’s heavy-handed four-game suspension. Brady’s dad naturally thinks his son has been unfairly portrayed outside of New England as some kind of monster.
So the Tom Brady on display during the Super Bowl was more like the real deal, Tom Sr. said.
“People this week got a much bigger window into Tommy Brady’s soul than they ever had before,” he said. “The fact of how much, how sensitive and kind and emotional and responsive he is to his parents ... I’m telling you, I’ve had people say this to me, there’s never been anybody in sports like Tommy Brady . . . when he talks about his family, what kind of dad he is, he is absolutely the best.
“I’m telling you. I’m in awe when I look at that man. I’m just in awe of how he conducts himself.”
Of course, there was the Goodell moment, where Brady simply smiled and shook the man’s hand. The elder Brady has been vocal about his disdain for the commissioner, how he felt his son was the victim of a witch hunt on the part of Goodell and the league.
Seeing his son win his fifth Super Bowl, and in such an improbable fashion, certainly made papa happy on the Goodell front.
“I absolutely felt vindication,” he said. “And I think Goodell realizes how big a meathead he is. But, frankly, the vindication in this was the fans letting him know, when he was talking, what they felt about the whole situation.”
The overwhelming chorus of boos while Goodell spoke, Brady’s dad said, sent an important message.
“They let him know, ‘You know what? Goodell is no longer a part of our lives.’ ” he said. “He determined the storyline for two years. Now, the fans were telling him, that no longer exists. This issue is in the rearview mirror.”
The Bradys are also at peace with that. They’ve moved on. It’s in the rearview mirror. They have more important things to worry about.
“You know, at halftime, we were pretty darn dejected, but then it turned into such a magnificent event,” Tom Sr. said, “but, as I said, we’re back to dealing with (Galynn’s treatment) and hopeful. That’s just how it is.”
Back to reality. The fight goes on.