My Favorite Brady Moments
Sure, I’m sad Tom Brady is abandoning my New England Patriots. But it has been a great couple of decades
A Patriots Fan’s Farewell
Well, it finally happened. After 20-some years, nine visits to the Super Bowl and six championships, Tom Brady is leaving the New England Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. All the hand-wringing aside in Boston—“they should have backed up the Brink’s truck for him!” and “Bill Belichick is evil!”—it was really time. As a fan, the eye-test told me he wasn’t the same player last season. The pouting after a few of the losses wasn’t a great look either. And my head was bobbing up and down when Boston
Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy said Brady should have retired as the confetti was falling after dispatching the
Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl a year ago February.
But he didn’t. Good luck. Thanks for the memories. My favorite Brady moments? There are way, way too many, as irrational Patriots haters might tell you. But what the hell, I’ll give it a shot. They are, in no particular order:
The Madden Drive: There was 1:21 to play in the 2001/02 Super Bowl. The Patriots had the ball—on their own 17-yard-line—while tied with the St. Louis Rams. There were no timeouts. Here’s what legendary ex-coach and Fox broadcaster John
Madden said at the time: “With this field position, you just have to run out the clock...you have to play for overtime now.” My translation: Brady was too inexperienced to execute such a drive against the team known as “The Greatest Show on Turf.” Yeah, whatever. Young Brady dinked and dunked down the field—5 yards here; 11 yards there—and finally spiked the ball at the Rams’ 30-yard line. Kicker Adam Vinatieri—soon to join a Hall of Fame near you—nailed a 48-yard field goal. And with that, Brady launched the Boston sports century.
The “3–28” Bowl: Atlanta fans, turn away now. Sometime during the first half of the 2016/17 Super Bowl versus the Falcons, I got a call from two friends—from New York, of course—who called to trash-talk me after the Patriots fell behind in the first half. It didn’t get much better, as Atlanta built the lead to 28–3 in the middle of the third quarter. The Patriots eventually engineered the greatest comeback win in Super Bowl history. Aside from the winning touchdown, my favorite Brady moment: With the Patriots trailing 28–12 in the fourth quarter, playoff-clutch linebacker Dont’a Hightower sacked Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and forced a fumble.
The Patriots recovered on Atlanta’s 25-yard line. Brady was looking up at the play on the Jumbotron, eyes manically wide open. Unfortunately for Atlanta, and my friends, he saw his opening. And, seeing his reaction, so did Pats fans everywhere.
In-your-face: Talk about great moments. The Patriots won a terrific game over the Seattle Seahawks in the 2014/15 Super Bowl. (Instant replay: The Patriots’ Malcolm Butler intercepts a Russell Wilson pass on the Pats’ goal line with 20 seconds
left to play.) But maybe the second best part was during the trophy presentation. With coach Bill Belichick, owner Robert Kraft and Brady onstage, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was greeted with ear-deafening boos from Pats fans. Why? Goodell had launched the “Deflategate” investigation after the Patriots, and Brady, beat the living you-know-what out of the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC championship game. A moment treasured by Pats fans everywhere.
The “We Suck” Game: A little background. As the Patriots were getting ready for the 2018/19 playoff run, they were being buried by sports pundits, who were predicting
Tom Brady may be off to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he’ll always be one of New England’s greatest athletes ever. In almost two decades, he’s led the New England Patriots to nine Super Bowls and six championships. Not bad for a sixth-round NFL draft choice.
the end of the New England dynasty. You would think that Tom Brady wasn’t paying much attention to the chatter from all those “NFL insiders.” But of course, he was. Moments after the Patriots dismantled the San Diego Chargers in early January 2019, he spoke with CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson about the team’s chances against the favored Kansas City Chiefs: “I know everyone thinks we suck and, you know, can’t win any games,” he told Wolfson. “So we’ll see. It’ll be fun.” It was lots of fun—they beat the Chiefs in overtime—and it was off to another Super Bowl.
The Pass: The last great Brady moment? It was the fourth quarter in the 2018/19 Super Bowl, and the Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams were locked in a defensive struggle. The game was tied 3–3, with about seven-plus minutes left. Brady stepped back and threw a perfect pass—in a Super Bowl with few perfect passes—and hit Rob Gronkowski in stride, surrounded by a couple of Rams, to the 2-yard line. (Sony Michel scored the winning touchdown moments later.) It was classic Gronk and classic Brady. Of course, the critics pointed out that Brady didn’t have a Brady kind of game. But tough luck, “insiders.” As always, it seemed, Brady showed up when it mattered most. And Gronk, who retired soon after, was pretty good, too.
“As always, it seemed, Brady showed up when it mattered most.”