Regardless of the result of Super Bowl LV, Tom Brady was always going to keep his mantle as the greatest quarterback to play the game.
But at the age of 43, to take a new team to Super Bowl glory — up against the best quarterback prospect of the new generation — just rubber-stamped his incredible reputation once again.
Playing in an incredible 10th Super Bowl in his 21-season NFL career, Brady led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 31-9 win over the Kansas City Chiefs at the Buccaneers’ home ground, the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
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The quarterback produced yet another top display and was named the Super Bowl’s Most Valuable Player for an extraordinary fifth time.
This seventh individual NFL crown means Brady now not only has more Super Bowl titles than any other player in history, but he has also won more Super Bowls than any team in NFL history, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers and his former team the New England Patriots.
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And the scary part for the rest of the league?
“Yeah, I’m coming back,” Brady said after being asked about his future during the post-match presentations.
It was fitting that Brady made history in a Super Bowl where his team became the first franchise ever to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium.
Brady stunned the league when he brought his time at New England to an end early last year after 20 seasons.
The Patriots became arguably the NFL’s greatest-ever dynasty, with six titles in those 20 seasons thanks to the combination of Brady at quarterback, Bill Belichick as coach and an organisation that was ruthless in making decisions to keep the run going.
Along the way, they won low-scoring and high-scoring Super Bowls, including a comeback for the ages against the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI.
Sometimes the Patriots were accused of going over the line, such as in the “Deflategate” scandal, which saw Brady cop a four-match suspension after an investigation found he was probably aware of ball tampering by the Patriots in a key playoff game, the 2014 AFC Championship against the Indianapolis Colts.
But Brady’s game awareness, will to win and elite-level play in clutch situations left many teams falling short against him over the years.
The focus on Brady at Tampa Bay was intense.
This was partly because many could not believe he chose the Buccaneers franchise to continue his career — a team with just one Super Bowl win (SB XXXVII against the Oakland Raiders) — and partly because plenty of people were waiting for him to fail or be ordinary, to push the case that the Patriots’ juggernaut was one of the main reasons for his stellar record.
Brady didn’t get it right all the time at his new team. He appeared to lose count of the downs when throwing an incomplete pass on fourth down with seconds to go against the Chicago Bears in a 20-19 loss in week five of the season.
But he showed enough of his best — or close to it — for a regular season of 4,633 passing yards, 40 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. It was enough to end the Buccaneers’ 13-year absence from the playoffs.
He made use of wide receivers Mike Evans (13 TD receptions) and Chase Godwin (7 TD receptions), and his old Patriots teammate Rob Gronkowski (7 TDs).
Brady then led Tampa Bay to a Wild Card game playoff win over the Washington Football Team, before overcoming rival veteran Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints on the road in the last head-to-head match between the two quarterbacks (Brees retired after the game).
Brady and the Buccaneers qualified for the Super Bowl by beating the Green Bay Packers on the road in the NFC Championship game, throwing three touchdowns and three interceptions at Lambeau Field.
What Brady did at the Super Bowl
All week the talk had been about Kansas City’s star quarterback, Patrick Mahomes — who last year led the Chiefs to Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers, becoming the youngest Super Bowl MVP winner at 24.
The expectations were that Mahomes would beat Brady, win back-to-back titles and begin his run towards one day eclipsing his rival in the NFL record books.
It didn’t turn out like that, however.
The Buccaneers’ defence shut down the Chiefs’ quarterback for most of the game, but Brady looked like his old self in the big game.
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It was like old times as the Tampa Bay offensive line gave Brady time to find his favourite receiver, and Rob Gronkowski didn’t disappoint. The tight end had two first-half touchdowns and the Buccaneers were in control, particularly after Brady led a brilliant, 55-second touchdown drive before half-time to give Tampa Bay a 21-6 lead.
The Chiefs got angry and safety Tyrann Mathieu got in Brady’s face, but it only served to give Brady added motivation to finish the job.
While Mahomes and the Chiefs were losing their composure, Brady was keeping his. It was another reminder of why the 43-year-old is still the one you can count on when the title is on the line.
The stats were not huge, but facing a much-vaunted Chiefs defence, Brady completed 21 of 29 passes for 201 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
He didn’t just make his team competitive — the Buccaneers number 12 helped his team dominate.
In the process, he made even more history with Gronkowski.
The first-half touchdowns gave the pair 14 total postseason scores, the most successful combination in NFL history, passing the great San Francisco 49ers tandem of quarterback Joe Montana and wide receiver Jerry Rice.
What comes next? Who knows, but after this unlikely season, people will be even slower to write off the chances of another Brady title in 12 months’ time.
