Seattle Seahawks versus New England Patriots for all the marbles on February 1st in the Super Bowl in Glendale, AZ will have a few Irish subplots too.
First of all the two mayors: Edward Murray in Seattle and Marty Walsh in Boston are two of the new generation of Irish American politicians.
Murray is the first proudly gay Irish American mayor of a major US city. Marty Walsh comes from the kind of hardscrabble background that Mayor James Michael Curley would easily recognize.
But the ability to build coalitions with minority groups who elected Walsh would be alien to Curley.
Then there’s Pete Carroll, a second generation kid from an Irish neighborhood of San Francisco versus superstar Tom Brady quarterback for the Pats.
Brady, with Cavan and Cork roots, will be the most talked about player going into this game. Whether Carroll can devise a game plan to counter him may well decide the title game.
Brady is proud of his Irish roots. “My father is 100 percent Irish. We took a trip over there together and visited some of the places where my family came from,” Brady told our sister publication Irish America Magazine. “That was a great experience for me and obviously I am very proud of my Irish roots.”
Brady is no stranger to Britain and Ireland and also spoke of the fond memories he had of golfing trips he took to the Emerald Isle and Scotland.
"I’ve been golfing in Ireland and Scotland as well. I’ve really enjoyed my time over there. Anyone who’s been over to that part of the world comes away with a greater sense of history. I know this will be a great experience for the players.”
And Brady, through his father, Tom Sr., is well aware of his own Irish history.
Irish America spoke to Tom Brady Sr. a few years back, and he told our sister publication that his great-grandfather was from County Cavan and great-grandmother, who hailed from County Cork, were both immigrants from Ireland who came to the States during the potato famine.
For all Irish and Irish-American fans of gridiron, knowing that one of the greatest New England Patriots to ever don a shirt is proud of his Irish blood is only one more reason to shout for him as he tries to win another super bowl ring.
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