Photo Credit: clutchpoints.com
Well, my fellow football fans, if you’ve been following the news lately, we have just been dropped a bombshell: Tom Brady, who some would call the greatest quarterback of all-time (or one of the greatest) has officially retired after a long 21-year career.
To be honest, I am very surprised, but, at the same time, Brady has already accomplished everything a quarterback could at the age of 44. According to Sporting News, he holds the record for most passing touchdowns, passing yards, game-winning drives, fourth-quarter comebacks, Super Bowl victories, and overall wins by a quarterback. He has helped the only two teams he’s been on win Super Bowls. He has become the greatest QB in the history of a franchise… The man has done it all.
As a huge football fan who watched TB12 throughout his career (and wasn’t a huge fan of his), I would like to share some memories of watching this once-in-a-lifetime talent play, and go over how it affected my perception of him.
First off, I had always been a fan of the New York Giants (adopted fandom from my dad), but I really became a hardcore fan in 2014. When I started as a fan, I didn’t know much about Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, except that most football fans who weren’t based in New England hated them. Eventually, sooner rather than later, I became a part of that boat, when the Patriots won a Super Bowl against the Seahawks.
Then when Brady and his team just kept winning, and winning, and winning, until it got to the point of nausea and wanting to see someone just get one-up on them. That’s why it was truly disheartening for me as a fan when Brady led an improbable comeback from down 28-3 to beat the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LII, and then overcame late fourth-quarter deficits against other teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars and Kansas City Chiefs on their way to more Super Bowl appearances (one of them another win, surprise surprise).
That’s also why it was cathartic for me as a big football fan to watch as the Philadelphia Eagles defeated Brady in Super Bowl LIII (even though I’m a fan of one of the Eagles’ biggest rivals, the New York Giants), and observe in shock as Logan Ryan, a former teammate of Brady’s, picked off Tom on his final play as a Patriot to seal a playoff victory for the Tennessee Titans over the Patriots.
But, then, something changed when Brady went to Tampa Bay. Outside of being shocked that Brady had chosen to sign with this random football team in the Buccaneers and leave the only team he had ever known (something I never thought possible until then), my dislike for Brady started to dissipate.
Why? Simple. I didn’t want him to win…with the Patriots. When he was on the Buccaneers, I started to gain a new respect for him. Not to say I had never respected him (yes, even in my hatred for Brady, I managed to find a respect for how great he was as a player and as a person), but I had gained a respect for him in which I actually didn’t mind watching him win.
That’s why, when I watched Brady and the Buccaneers defeat Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl last year, I actually felt satisfied (mostly because Mahomes had already won a Super Bowl the year prior, so I didn’t feel too bad), the first time I had felt that way about a Brady Super Bowl win since the Patriots defeated the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX (and that was only because I predicted the Patriots to win that game, and I wanted to be right).
Even as the Rams defeated the Buccaneers in the divisional round last month (something that I admittedly did want to happen) and knocked Brady out of the playoffs for the final time, I had gotten to a point where I wouldn’t have been angry if Brady had pulled it off and made it to another championship game.
Because, beyond being relieved to see him in a uniform other than a Patriots uniform, I had just shed my hatred for the man, and come to respect, and even like and enjoy, him as a player. So, my message to Brady as he enters retirement:
Mr. Brady, I have enjoyed watching your games, whether I was rooting for or against you on the field. With everything you’ve done, you have absolutely earned your ride into the sunset. I not only hope, but I know that you will be a great husband to Gisele and a great father to your 3 children. Whatever you do after football, whether it’s in an executive role, or doing commercials, or even becoming an analyst on ESPN or NFL Network, enjoy it as much as you can, because you’ve earned it. I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for you. As Woody from Toy Story would say, “so long, partner…”
