Tom Brady, The G.O.A.T

By Katie Black

The beginning of Super Bowl month this year was kicked off by Tom Brady officially announcing his retirement through his Instagram account. If one experienced amnesia after February 1st of last year and had recently just come to, they would have already known this declaration.

Retirement is usually a difficult journey to first admit aloud, and then actually accept, live, and adapt. Most any human connected to a long-standing profession could attest. But professional athletes, another breed of humankind, usually fall on that retirement sword unwillingly and more unprepared than a banker, general contractors, educators, or medical professionals.

Brady’s National Football League career started off rough, at least from the first report card they gave him. Tom had played his college years for the University of Michigan, and didn’t start until his junior year. In 2000, shortly before he was drafted #199 by the New England Patriots, the NFL Scouting Combine report stated, ‘Lacks mobility and ability to avoid the rush,’ ‘Skinny,’ ‘Lacks a real strong arm,’ and ‘Gets knocked down easily,’, were just to name a few.

Brady has been very open about therapist Greg Harden, altering the way he not only looks at himself but the way he approaches challenging situations on and off the field, from his days starting back in Michigan. A healthy mindset would make sense when one looks at Tom Brady’s unforgettable 23 seasons with the National Football League. Statista, (an online platform specialized in market and consumer data) states that the average length of a player in the National Football League is lasting around 3.3 years.

Along with a long list of record-breakers, he was the oldest (at 45 years old) quarterback to ever play.

“No fear, cut it loose!” He was miked telling his teammates on the sideline of Super Bowl LI, against the Falcons. Three minutes to go before the first half came to a close, the Patriots had a big goose egg on the scoreboard, when Brady threw an interception which the Falcons took back for another touchdown. At halftime, Falcons 21, Patriots 3.

“Come on boys, let’s see what we got now! Let’s see what we got,” Brady told his teammates after halftime.

Even after another Falcons touchdown, Brady is seen still giving his teammates encouragement and a ‘don’t give up attitude’.

Bottom of the 3rd quarter, with a little more than two minutes to go, Brady throws to James White, who completes the Patriots’ first touchdown pass of the night.

Fourth quarter, 9 minutes and 44 seconds to go, Falcons 28, Patriots 12. From the Falcon’s 35, Matt Ryan gets hit and the ball became loose with the Patriots taking over. “The strip sack was huge, we needed that.” Brady would later tell reporters.

Still, Falcons 28, Patriots 12 with 8 minutes and 24 seconds in the 4th and final quarter. Brady throws to number 80, Danny Amendola, and touchdown, quickly they decide they’ll go for two. Brady fakes as if it’s a high snap, to actually make a direct snap to White, again, who runs in and makes a touchdown.

The announcer announces, “5:56 to go in the fourth.” Now, it’s an 8-point game, with Falcons still up. The Falcons could have had it in the bag after Julio Jones’s catch but they decided to gamble. Ryan was thrown for a loss and the Falcons had a fifteen yard penalty which took them out of field goal range.

With three minutes and two time-outs, Brady throws to Edelman who fought for the ball and it was eventually ruled a catch.

James Whites make it into the in-zone again. With 57 seconds left, Brady makes it clear he’ll go for a two-point conversion again. They do and tie the ballgame, 28-28 they’ll go into overtime.

No need to continue to break down what happened in overtime, Patriots win Super Bowl LI.

Tom Brady has seven super bowl rings, which yes, means seven, really big rings. Nine with the New England Patriots and 1 with Tampa Bay.

Steve Mariucci, the head coach of the 49ers from 1997-2002, who attended the NFL Combine along with Bill Walsh, would later claim when he first saw Brady, “looked like he had never seen a weight room,”. Humans tend to say, ‘If I knew then, what I know now, maybe things would be different,’ in the awakening of unknown knowledge. Years later, Mariucci would tell NFL Films, “We didn’t open up his chest and look at his heart, we didn’t look at that. I don’t know if anybody did.”

The skinny, non-athletic kid became the G.(greatest) O.(of) A.(all) T.(time).