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Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

ZANGWILL | The Best Awards of Brady’s Career Precede Last Ring

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The 2019 Super Bowl saw the New England Patriots capture their sixth title in a 13-3 win over the Los Angeles Rams. As is the case with nearly every major sporting event, debates about legacies ensued. Perhaps no opinion was more outlandish than the praise ESPN’s Skip Bayless heaped on Patriots quarterback Tom Brady after the game.

“When you least expected it, he turned into Michael Jordan,” Bayless said. Bayless was alluding not only to Brady being potentially the most dominant player in the history of his sport, but also his ability to play his best in the game’s biggest moments.

The game was stalled in a three-point tie into the fourth quarter before Brady led his team down the field. Patriots running back Sony Michel ran into the endzone for a touchdown, and the Rams failed to match in the closing minutes.

Bayless focused on the difficult journey Brady survived on the way to the Super Bowl, primarily citing the AFC Conference Championship in Kansas City, which the Patriots won in overtime and in one of the toughest stadiums for visitors in the NFL. All the while, Brady was without his primary deep threat, wideout Josh Gordon.

Bayless also took to twitter to extend his argument where he stated that “This [Super Bowl] is Tom Brady’s greatest achievement.”

Brady has been competing in Super Bowls for nearly two decades and, not to knock Brady, this year’s was far from his best. This Super Bowl — and the run that preceded it — was not a result of a particularly special performance by the Patriots’ signal caller. Other seasons and games are definitely more noteworthy.

In the 2007-08 season, for example, New England went 16-0 in the regular season, the only team to ever complete such a feat since the length of the season was extended to 16 games. In the process, they won each game by an average of over 19 points. Brady was nearly perfect throughout the year, throwing 50 touchdowns and only eight interceptions.

Should you choose to discount the entire 2007 season because of a later Super Bowl defeat, I present to you Exhibit B for Brady’s greatest achievement.

In the 2015 Super Bowl, Brady faced the defending champion Seattle Seahawks, who had the best defense in the NFL and one of the best of all time. The previous year, the Seahawks had held superstar quarterback Peyton Manning to just one touchdown.

Entering the game’s fourth quarter, Brady seemed likely to suffer a similar fate. But down by 10 points, Brady led his offense down the field twice, throwing two touchdowns to bring his game total to four.

Perhaps even this performance is not thoroughly convincing of Brady’s illustrious and long-reaching Super Bowl past.

In 2016, Brady fought off the adversity and public humiliation of being suspended for the first four games. In Brady’s 12 starts, the Patriots went 11-1. Meanwhile, he threw 28 touchdowns and just two interceptions, the best single-season touchdown-to-interception ratio ever.

Narrowing your focus to the Super Bowl later that season, Brady’s name appears again and again in the record books. Without an injured tight end Rob Gronkowski, the Patriots were down 28-3 to the Atlanta Falcons deep into the third quarter. ESPN projected their chance of victory at 0.2 percent.

Brady made the most of these odds, leading his offense to score 25 points in the remainder of regulation on four different possessions. He capped the comeback off with a touchdown drive in overtime that won the game. In doing so, he set the record for most passing yards in a Super Bowl. However, this record was broken the following year — by Tom Brady.

This game, like many other Brady classics, was far more impressive than the last one against the Rams, in which Brady failed to throw a touchdown.

Brady’s best Super Bowls were the four in which he won MVP, not the one earlier this month in which he had a 24.4 quarterback record. Over the course of the season, that would have ranked as the worst rating of all qualifying quarterbacks.

Brady has had a extensive and storied career. You can take your pick of any of the achievements that make him the greatest of all time. While he played a part in the Patriots’ most recent Super Bowl victory, it was a relatively minor accolade on a list too long to count. Mistakes by the Rams played larger roles, as did a dominant Patriots’ defense. To elevate this game diminishes Brady’s prior achievements. Bayless is not doing his favorite football player any favors.

Grant Zangwill is a sophomore in the McDonough School Business. Did I Hear That Right? appears every other Friday.

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