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| Tom Brady walking off pitch at the 2012 Super Bowl |
Is it the end of the road for Tom Brady?
In the end all quarterbacks reach that moment that Brady reached on Sunday night, his despairing pass into the end zone left the Patriots an agonizing touchdown short of victory.
At 35 when next season starts Brady knows it will not be easy to get back to the Big Show, that his skills will inevitably diminish.
Because of his courage standing in the pocket all those years he has plenty of miles on the clock.
He was outplayed by Eli Manning when it really mattered last night.
The new hero is Eli Manning who clearly lived up to his early season boast that he considered himself an elite quarterback.
After two MVP performances in two Super Bowls who can blame him?
Manning like he did in 2007 and like Brady of old, drove his team the length of the field almost for the winning touchdown.
On the previous play Brady, admittedly aided by a dreadful dropped pass by Wes Welker, could not close out the game.
That is how it goes in this the game of football.
Brady was magnanimous in defeat but it must have pained him to come so close and yet be so far.
This is a guy remember, who has admitted he has never looked at the 2007 Super Bowl tape when the Giants defeated the Patriots last time.
It looks like now he will hover on the verge of the nearly greats to have played the game, not quite up there with his idol Joe Montana who was 4-0 in four super bowls and Terry Bradshaw who was also 4-0.
At 3-2 wins and losses Brady is a notch below.
Indeed, Eli might be the one to match Montana and Bradshaw, he is relatively young, just turned 30 and has many years left.
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Ironic that Brady came into this Super Bowl on his way to history but was derailed and Manning can now make tracks in that direction.
As for the Boston fans they are downright dismissive of Brady which is hardly fair.
Here's what Boston Globe columnist Eric Wilbur wrote after the game "The legend is dead, the prince has turned back into a frog, and...well, use whatever other cliché you want.
A performance as bad as Tom Brady's tonight in Super Bowl XLVI deserves a lead just as lame.
"Sorry, Tommy Boy, this one's on you. Your hideous performance led to the Giants' 21-17 Super Bowl title win. How embarrassing for your coach, your teammates, and your fans."
Tough crowd to please in Beantown. You win 'em three Super Bowls, compete in two more and they just want to forget all that.
18 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.SingleDonald | Feb 07, 2012, 02:23 PM EST
Hail to the Giants, Super Bowl XLVI Champs!
seagreen | Feb 06, 2012, 09:28 PM EST
Sorry about the multiple posting, suddenly this site has the goddamn face book crap on the login, does IC really need it ?
seagreen | Feb 06, 2012, 09:18 PM EST
You are talking about Brady like he lost his job at the warehouse. Bellicek may be thinking about Randy Moss at the moment. he was the one that threw the tantrum on that morning when the roads were all iced up and blocked which caused several players to be 1/2 hr. late. His Navy Seal type of team management set the tone for four players to leave. Moss was the big fast wide receiver that could beat the Giants secondary, and or at least take the pressure off the other receivers. his arrogance cost New England two championships, not Brady
jetsnoone | Feb 06, 2012, 07:58 PM EST
Always beware of a man, in this case both Bellicek and Brady, who says I'll be back.... there is some revenge in such words.......New England opened in Vegas as the favorite to win the 2013 Super Bowl... 5-1 odds. Take it if you're smart it will only go down once the season starts.
Murph46 | Feb 06, 2012, 04:49 PM EST
Wow -I do stutter!
Murph46 | Feb 06, 2012, 04:04 PM EST
His wife is bad mouthing his receivers for dropping passes,she said he threw,he couldn't throw em and catch em.Wes Welker agreed saying don't blame Tom blame us.I really thought Pat's would win Congrats NY.That's why they play the game.
bostonblakie | Feb 06, 2012, 03:02 PM EST
Nonsense. Pats took Giants to the final play of the final game. However,the few mistakes they made proved to be fatal. That's the way the cookie crumbles I'm afraid. Major bummer!
blackbearpause | Feb 06, 2012, 02:38 PM EST
New England, especially Boston needs to realize Ton cant catch em too. He threw 2 great passes in the last 3 minutes and his team mates dropped them. Then he threw a great hail Mary pass that did get into the end zone and there was no team mate to catch it. It is NOT the end of Tom Brady.
GraydonWilson | Feb 06, 2012, 02:31 PM EST
There really oughtn't be any question about Tom Brady's skills and poise. But, at 35 years of age, there isn't quite as much football future as there is for Eli Manning, who's just 30 years old. Brady understands that, of course. He has a great place in Massachusetts, just outside of Boston, but he and his wife have just built a new home in southern California, where Brady is from.
RedBranch | Feb 06, 2012, 01:34 PM EST
Murph, hope you enjoyed the game. Other than the rarely seen 'grounding' on play 1 Brady's performance was worthy of SB.
teak918 | Feb 06, 2012, 01:11 PM EST
Big Blue !!!!!
jamieLM | Feb 06, 2012, 01:07 PM EST
Oh, please. Brady is hardly "washed up." I'm not underestimating him, yet. I'm with Mruph46, porkheaven, and rugbyplayer.
Nicomax | Feb 06, 2012, 12:44 PM EST
He may come back just to prove, Farve-like, that he can still get it done, but not easy anymore. Still grates me that Eli should be paying for the San Diego Chargers who selected him, but was forced to trade him to the Giants to satisfy Papa Manning's desire to not have two sons playing in small markets. Why did the NFL allow that? But then the Chargers may have been in the S-Bowl a couple of times.
Murph46 | Feb 06, 2012, 12:29 PM EST
I gave up underestimating people like Brady long ago.There are plenty of the righteous who say Tiger will never come back-I say send em to me.Don't underestimate Tom Brady!
porkheaven | Feb 06, 2012, 11:30 AM EST
The entire team was at fault and the Giants took advantage of the errors.
rugbyplayer | Feb 06, 2012, 09:36 AM EST
Sorry, Sean. I don't think so. The media is so fickle. One day Brady a hero, the next day the media tosses him on a dung hill.
OleSarge | Feb 06, 2012, 09:22 AM EST
New England hasn't won a Super Bowl since they were caught cheating. Makes you wonder. Maybe they are just not good enough to play fair.
faberm1 | Feb 06, 2012, 09:22 AM EST
Well, Bean town is dumping on Tom. He's done much for them, and I suppose with what they pay him they're free to dump. I think he's still a great quarterback. It takes more than a great quarterback to win a football game.