I’ll start by saying this today – I have noticed that the hatred for Tom Brady that used to permeate throughout the sports fandom seems to have cooled off a bit this year. It’s as if going to a new team and winning another Super Bowl has opened up some eyes. Maybe people are starting to realize that some deflated balls and stolen signals doesn’t get you to 10 Super Bowls. That “cheating” that so many people cite doesn’t keep you at the top of the NFL for 20 (TWENTY!!!!!!) years.
They weren’t good for TWO DECADES because of deflated balls. I mean, how much did Brady win AFTER DeflateGate? Not to mention, there are a ton of red flags about that investigation that people don’t want to hear because they already don’t like Brady because he wins so much, and now they have something to point to and say he doesn’t deserve it. That was a mouthful, and I apologize for that terrible, long run-on sentence. More on my feelings towards the “Patriots are cheaters” crowd in this piece I wrote in 2017.
Not to mention, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brady seemed a little more relaxed. We got a little more personality out of him, and I dare say….maybe that made him a little more likable. He’s out there talking trash, Bruce Arians gave him the reins on the offense. He called this Bucs team “his team” referring to Brady. This is freedom compared to “the Patriot way.”
If you’ve been a longtime reader of SoBros Network, you already know that I root for greatness. I want to see the generational talent in any sport do things that are unprecedented. I’m fascinated by the little things that separate the greatest in their respective sport from the mean. In Brady’s case, I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that the dude has been a winner at the highest level for TWO DECADES. I want to see just how far he can push the limits of greatness and how we perceive it.
Dominance across three decades.@TomBrady continues to defy Father Time. pic.twitter.com/WJxxLbF9QF
— NFL UK (@NFLUK) February 10, 2021
Forget the longevity of this man’s career for a second. Just look at the evolution of the quarterback position during Brady’s career. We’ve gone from big statuesque quarterbacks to shifty, dynamic quarterbacks that can effect the game with speed and movement. And, yet – after all this time, Brady remains the same.
It’s the drive to be great – and it’s like a case study in human psychology. How is this man wired to do the things that he does? His health obsession is something that’s contributed greatly to the longevity of his career. TB12 has become its own brand in this day and age, and if you’re telling me I can get results anywhere NEAR Brady’s, you can have my life savings. But, it’s also the mental discipline it takes to be this good at football for so long….meticulously studying film, keeping notes on opponents. It’s a combination of mental processes that I, quite frankly, don’t fucking understand.
But, I want to understand this shit better. I want to know how long he can go (that’s what she said). That’s why I keep coming back – every time something seems virtually impossible, Brady does it. To me, it’s high drama. At first, it was ‘Brady vs. Manning.’ Then, it was ‘he’s a cheater.’ That evolved into, ‘well can he do it without Belichick?’ – and the man’s still standing…a champion. Now, everyone wants to rave about Patrick Mahomes. Well, Mahomes’ teams are 0-2 against Brady in the playoffs. It’s like even all these years later, Brady has to remind people he’s the best the same way he needs air to breathe. Y’all can have that Mahomes debate, but Brady’s going to keep winning Super Bowls – this year’s Bucs team was a reminder of that.
Brady wants to leave no doubt in his mind, and in all of ours that he is the greatest of all time. It was interesting – I watched the Super Bowl with our resident film critic, Brandon Vick, and he said, “don’t you think he’s already done that, though?” And, yeah – I think the average person was ready to call him the greatest just because he was able to make it to his 10th Super Bowl. But, I don’t know that that was the case in Brady’s mind. Winning it solidified that – and he seems to be wired in such a way that he doesn’t want anyone even close to his records by the time he retires. It’s like he wants to do something unprecedented. That takes a certain sort of cold-bloodedness, and maybe that’s where a lot of the dislike comes from for people who just make excuses for why they don’t like him. He’s dorky and awkward – robotic, at times. We’ve all seen the failed high five clips. We’ve heard all the jokes about him kissing his sons on the lips. And, maybe that stuff does add up to people being a little weirded out by the dude.
But, he has done something truly remarkable on the field. Brady is the type of guy that only comes along once in so often. He’s a generational talent – the greatest quarterback to ever play in the NFL. And, there’s plenty to learn from him about being prepared, having ambition and executing on it, and staying great over a long period of time. That’s why I root for Tom Brady.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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