Tom Brady’s most meaningful win might not be the one you think
By the time he beat the Seahawks, Brady was already an all-time great.
COMMENTARY
Last Sunday afternoon against the Rams, Tom Brady set a new NFL record for wins (including the playoffs) by a quarterback, and I say “new NFL record” because I’m pretty sure this one didn’t exist before a few weeks ago.
Not that it matters. There are no bad reasons to celebrate Tom Brady. But if you close your eyes you can almost see Roger Goodell in the boardroom with his marketing team, brainstorming ways to pump up the league’s saggy ratings.
“Well, sir,” one guys says. “What if we just invent a record?”
“Hmm,” says Goodell. “I’m listening.”
“Well,” the guy continues, “if we include the playoffs for some random reason, Tom Brady’s approaching the most wins of any quarterback all-time. So, you know, maybe we should make it a thing. Get people talking . . .”
(Goodell reaches for the button on his chair.)
“No wait!” the guy screams. “Did I mention his record-breaking game is against the Rams? You know, that sleepy franchise with the comatose head coach that resides in our second biggest TV market? Wouldn’t this help? And what about this: We’ll have Brett Favre make Brady a video!”
(Goodell smiles and nods. He’s sold.)
“Yeah, great idea!” adds a different guy, not thinking clearly. “You know, it’s just too bad Brady couldn’t have broken this record four weeks earlier when the ratings really needed him.”
(Goodell smashes the button on his chair and the new guy disappears into a fiery pit under the floor.)
***
Anyway, one cool after effect of Brady’s record-setting performance is it forced some big picture self-reflection on the future Hall of Famer. This is not something he typically enjoys. For the most part, in-season, Brady’s in the moment. He’ll reflect when he retires. If he ever retires. But Brady means a lot to people in New England, so it’s fun to sometimes have a glimpse into what means a lot to him.
On Monday morning, during his weekly spot with WEEI’s Kirk & Callahan, Brady was asked just that: Which one of his record 201 career wins (including the playoffs), means the most?
“One win?” Brady answered. “Probably the Seahawks Super Bowl.”
***
At first it feels a little crazy that Brady would pick the Seahawks Super Bowl. After all, by the time that game rolled around, he was already an all-time great. He was already one of only four quarterbacks with three rings. He was already Tom Brady.
On that note you could argue the Snow Bowl was more important than the Seahawks’ Super Bowl. Sure, Brady could have otherwise still had a great career. He could’ve won a few Super Bowls. But the Tuck Rule and Vinatieri’s super human kick were real Sliding Doors moments. That game was a total life changer.
Same goes for Super Bowl XXXVI. The touchdown to David Patten. The final drive. The spike that killed the clock and bounced right back into his hand. Brady with his hands on his head, in the middle of the podium, fighting back tears and pointing to his family in the stands. You never forget your first so you could understand if Brady looked back on that game – and that moment – and thought: “Yeah, that’s the one.”
But no.
It’s not the one.
He already told us, it’s Seattle.
“Three of my first four years, to win – it was so strange,” Brady explained. “I don’t want to say you took it for granted, but you took it for granted.”
What he means is, yes – he took it for granted. We all took it for granted. It’s easy to forget this but how about the fact that Brady won his first 10 postseason starts?
10-0.
For reference, before last year’s Super Bowl run, Peyton Manning won 11 playoff games his entire career. Brady started 10-0.
Take it for granted? How could you not?
The Pats once won 21 consecutive games over two seasons.
The Pats were unbeatable.
And then they weren’t.
“To go that long without winning another one,” Brady continued with Kirk & Callahan, “and to realize, ‘Man, this is so hard every year.’ In ’07 we had an incredible season and 2010 we had a great year and didn’t win it. 2011 we get to the Super Bowl and didn’t win it. Then ’12 and ’13…”
You can hear the frustration in Brady’s voice. Even after the fact, it’s obvious how much those years pained him. The blown AFC Championship in Indianapolis. David Tyree. Bernard Pollard. The Jets butt kicking. The Ravens butt kicking. The missed connection with Wes Welker. Then for a second, Jermaine Kearse made a catch that threw 500 gallons of lighter fluid on the already raging fire and was about to turn New England’s soul into scorched Earth.
Can you imagine how much worse DeflateGate would’ve been if New England didn’t win that game?
Or what about this Gronk injury? We’d be wondering if the best tight end in NFL history might walk away without a ring.
Or what about the Chandler Jones trade? Or the Jamie Collins trade? Or the inconsistency on offense or the questions on defense? As yet another season is on the verge of being ripped away for any number of same old reasons, it’s quite easy to relate to just how much that victory over Seattle meant to Tom Brady. It’s like this —
While the Snow Bowl and Super Bowl XXXVI gave him life on this crazy stage, the win over Seattle gave him peace in the afterlife. It was redemption. It was salvation. It silenced a lifetime of nagging questions and torturous inner monologues.
That doesn’t make Brady less hungry or less likely to make a run at playing into his 50s. It just leaves him protected. It leaves everyone protected. It’s the same way no one was ecstatic to watch David Ortiz’s career close with a whimper against the Indians, but it was more tolerable because of what Ortiz did three years earlier against the Cardinals. He’d reached that point of still wanting more but not needing more – the point where everything was gravy and we could enjoy the best of what Ortiz had left in tank instead stressing over what he might leave on the table.
After the Seattle Super Bowl, Brady’s career hit gravy mode.
The other 200 wins made Brady great, but the Super Bowl against Seattle made him whole.
And there’s no better feeling.
That’s a luxury not many players are afforded.
And like the rest of New England, Tom Brady knows exactly who to thank.
No, sorry. Not you, Commissioner.
“That was probably the one that sinks in the most when I think about it,” Brady said, wrapping up the Seattle conversation. “It was a great team. It was a great game. It was the biggest moment. Our team came through.
That’s why Malcolm has the truck, thank god for Malcolm Butler.”
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