Monday, February 2, 2015

Tom Brady and Super Bowl XLIX


Yesterday’s Super Bowl game was terrific. Leading up to the Super Bowl XLIX, there was too much controversy surrounding the amount of psi in the football. There were pros and cons, as well as a lot of misinformation. People had their beliefs and were sticking to them. In the very first Super Bowl, the Kansas City Chiefs of the AFC used a different size football than the NFC’s Green Bay Packers [if the Chiefs had  used  the NFC football, would the outcome have been differen]. But in this Super Bowl, the football was safely under lock and key and was “identical” for both the Seahawks and the Patriots.

The controversy in this game was the “Call” in the closing seconds of the game with the ball on about the Patriots 1 yard line. Marshawn Lynch the Seahawks running back ran like a beast throughout the game. Many thought with first down, Coach Pete Carroll, run the ball into the end zone leaving little time left on the clock. But no, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw the ball on a slant play. However, the rookie Patriot cornerback Malcolm Butler, made a terrific play and intercepted the ball. Now all the Patriots had to do was run out the clock and they did.

Tom Brady the 37-year-old Patriot quarterback only threw four touchdowns in this game. Would he have thrown more touchdowns if the ball was slightly under inflated? Who will know for sure? But I doubt if the critics will bring up that point. With this victory, Brady has thrown more touchdowns than any other Super Bowl quarterback. And with four victories, he joins Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana at the top of the list.

After the game, Brady was interviewed by Marshall Faulk, Deion Sanders and Michael Irvin about his game day performance. Early on, Brady criticized his dumb play that resulted in his two interceptions, one at the beginning of the first half, and one at the beginning of the second half. He had no trouble blaming himself or taking responsibility for his performance. When questioned about the mistakes, Tom Brady talked about not wanting to let his teammates down. He also stated that in two previous Super Bowl losses, he played the game over in his mind and would’ve liked to have played better and not made mistakes. In essence, Tom Brady is a team player and it’s all about the team.

Tom Brady had no difficulty heaping praise on the Patriot organization, his coaches and all the great players and teammates over the years. He also talked about all the great players in the league and acknowledged Faulk, Sanders and Irvin about their legendary play. There was even a picture of young Tom in the parking lot at Candlestick with a football. He added that being from San Mateo, California his boyhood idols were Joe Montana and Steve Young of the San Francisco 49ers.

For Brady, it’s about mental toughness, being in the foxhole with his buddies, practice to make himself better, and about the team. These lessons started at the University Michigan with Coach Bo Schembechler. Lloyd Carr coached under Schembechler and I’m sure instilled the same values as Tom’s head coach at the University Michigan.


 Go Tom Brady and Go Blue!

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