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Tom Brady enters his 10th Super Bowl but despite entering his 21st season in the NFL, the 43-year-old continues to make history.
When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers welcome the defending champions Kansas City Chiefs to their own stadium, it’ll be a first, with Brady leaning on that home field advantage in his bid to upset Patrick Mahomes and grab a seventh Super Bowl ring.
“It’s been a great journey thus far, we’ve put the work in,” Brady said after victory in Green Bay to claim the NFC Championship. “When BA [Bruce Arians] got here last year, a lot of great things were happening. I made a decision, love coming to work every day, worked very hard to get to this point.
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“We know what we’re playing for, it’ll be a great opponent and an exciting couple of weeks for us.
“It’s the ultimate team sport. We’ve had a lot of people work really hard to get to this point. It’s a tough journey to get here.
“To go on the road and win another play-off game, a home Super Bowl for the first time in history, whenever you do something for the first time, it’s usually a pretty good thing.”
Here’s how Brady’s resume and career stacks up so far:
Brady’s NFL resume
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Super Bowl titles x 6 (2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016, 2018)
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Super Bowl MVP x 4 (2001, 2003, 2014, 2016)
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NFL Regular Season MVP x 3 (2007, 2010, 2017)
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NFL First-team All-Pro x 3 (2007, 2010, 2017)
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NFL Passing touchdowns leader x 4 (2002, 2007, 2010, 2015)
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NFL passing yards leader x 3 (2005, 2007, 2017)
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Super Bowl appearances x 9 (Wins: 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016, 2018. Losses: 2007, 2011, 2017)
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NFL 2000s All-Decade team
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Unanimous NFL 2010s All-Decade team
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Most NFL Play-Off Wins Ever: 33 – 2nd: Joe Montana (16)
Why Brady left New England
There is still some mystery surrounding the reason for Brady and the New England Patriots’ divorce after a 20-year marriage, which created arguably the greatest dynasty in American sports history.
What we do know is money was at the heart of this decision, the Patriots and Brady happily tweaked his contract on a rolling basis, with the quarterback often spurning the opportunity to secure the most money in the league at his position to spread the load of the cap and, in theory, enhance the team around him.
Brady was left frustrated at the lack of weapons at his disposal in his final years, with the Pats missing big both in free agency when they signed Antonio Brown, whose off-the-field behaviour cut his stay in New England short, and the draft, where first-round wide receiver N’Keal Harry failed to hit the ground running.
Some have speculated about both Brady and Belichick’s desire to try win elsewhere, with the credit often shared equally. Brady ultimately felt like he was in the final years of his lengthy career and needed to have a championship-calibre roster to compete, with doubts over New England’s ability to compete after a rough defeat in the wildcard round of the 2019 season play-offs to the Tennessee Titans.
A bumper two-year deal on offer in Tampa Bay, worth $27,875,000 per season, putting him 8th in total cash this season and first next season, for the time being, along with an elite group of wide receivers: Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown (again), proved too tempting.
Who is Bruce Arians?
Bruce Arians is the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in his second year in charge, though the veteran coach, 68, has enjoyed success elsewhere before his first Super Bowl this season.
Arians is affectionately known for his “no risk it, no biscuit” philosophy, which delights the neutral NFL fan.
He is perhaps best known for his spell as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, where he guided them to the NFC Championship game in 2016 before departing two seasons later.
Brady on the Bucs defence
“The defence was spectacular (vs Green Bay). Great front, great linebackers, playing their buts off in the secondary. An incredible effort against an incredible offence.”
Brady on Arians
“I’m so happy for him (Arians), it’s amazing, for me I don’t think about what it is for me, I think about what it means to everybody else. It’s taken a lot of different people to come through, that’s why we’re still playing. Proud to be part of it.”
Brady on the touchdown to Miller vs Green Bay
“BA wanted to go for it, I liked the call, I’ll do whatever he asks me to do. Just a great job by Scotty, getting open, I just tried to lay it out for him to go grab it.”
Brady on how the Bucs reached SBLV
“It’s hard to envision this goal, it’s a week-to-week league. We were 7-5 and not feeling great, felt like we needed to find our rhythm. We played four great games down the stretch, then after that it was a bonus. Everybody stepped up to the challenge. Football is the ultimate team sport, it takes everybody. Blessed to be a part of it.”
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Originally published
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