Tom Brady led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a swashbuckling 31-9 triumph over the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs to win a record-extending seventh Super Bowl.
Back when Brady signed with the Florida-based team in March, the legendary quarterback suggested wearing number seven.
Why? His answer was frank and harrowingly sincere.
“To go after that seventh Super Bowl.”
In his first campaign with the Buccaneers, Brady helped Tampa Bay become the first franchise to play a Super Bowl in their own stadium – and he took home championship number seven.
At 43 years and 188 days, the quarterback became the oldest player to play in the big game while participating in a record 10th Super Bowl before becoming just the second signal-caller – behind Peyton Manning – to win the Vince Lombardi trophy with two different teams.
In his previous nine Super Bowl appearances, Brady had never thrown a touchdown pass in the first quarter – only putting up a total of three points, but Super Bowl LV was a night of records for the GOAT.
Embed from Getty ImagesHe was ice cold in the first half, echoing Patrick Mahomes’ evasive style to move out the pocket and hit fellow former-Patriot Rob Gronkowski for two touchdowns – including one in the first quarter to break the unwanted streak.
When Brady hit Gronkowski with a swing pass to take the lead, it was a record 13th playoff touchdown between the iconic duo – and they extended it soon after.
The 43-year-old threw three touchdowns in the first half to end Kansas City’s hopes of becoming the first back-to-back Super Bowl champions since Brady and the Patriots back in 2004.
Mahomes, dogged by toe issues and a collapsing offensive line, was unable to impact the game at all, with the Chiefs limited to three field goals.
Their defence simply had no answer to Brady, and it wasn’t helped by a slew of first-half penalties that led to the Bucs scoring their third touchdown with seconds left in the first half.
Leonard Fournette rushed in a fourth score to extend the lead, and the Buccaneers never looked back.
Brady joined a team that before this season had not won a playoff game since Super Bowl XXXVII back in January 2003, and the franchise had not even reached the postseason since 2007.
While New England suffered their first losing season since 2000 – the season before Brady became their starting quarterback – their former-star won yet another championship alongside the likes of Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown.
American football is a team game, but one man changed everything for the Buccaneers.
Brady’s legacy was further cemented as he won a record-extending fifth Super Bowl MVP, and he now has more Super Bowl wins than any NFL franchise.
There are no words – except the five word moniker that he has earned.
Even at 43, ‘the greatest of all time’ stands tall at the pinnacle of American sport.
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Featured image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/joeglo/50831667973/ via Wiki Commons CC 2.0 license
