Tom Brady’s last chance

Issue 17, Joshua De Bets, Super Bowl, Tom Brady, Opinion - By Joshua De Bets on Thursday, February 9, 2012 - 04:42

I am going to be honest; I thought the New England Patriots were going to win the Super Bowl. I thought Tom Brady was going to win his fourth Super Bowl and be the quarterback of this generation. I thought the Patriots would become the team of excellence once again. But I was wrong.

Even when the Patriots were down to the final seconds of their season and Tom Brady heaved a perfect Hail Mary to the end zone, I thought the Patriots were going to win it. Perhaps the deceased Myra Kraft would answer the prayers of the Patriots and their fans, but it did not happen. Like Super Bowl XLII, the Giants pulled out a late win on a spectacular catch, this time by Mario Manningham, in double coverage while going out-of-bounds. So I guess the old cliché is right, history does repeat itself.

So now I find myself at a crossroads. I am a huge Tom Brady fan and have been following him since his days as the Michigan Wolverines starting quarterback. Throughout his football career, Brady has faced endless adversity and has constantly been told he could never succeed at the next level, but all of those critics were wrong, as he has won three Super Bowls and played in five. But now I find myself as one of those critics. Tom Brady has not won a Super Bowl since the 2004 season in Super Bowl XXXIX against the Philadelphia Eagles. Since that time he overcame a season-ending knee injury and has led the Patriots to the postseason each season he has started, but has yet to win another Super Bowl.

Most disturbing is the 2007 spygate controversy that has put into question the credibility of the Patriots Super Bowl victories. For those of you that do not know, in 2007 the Patriots were caught videotaping the New York Jets’ defensive coaches’ signals during a regular season game. So essentially they were cheating. As a Tom Brady fan, I hope their victories in the Super Bowl were not the result of violating the rules of the game, but since that scandal the Patriots are 0-2 in Super Bowls.

I never thought a quarterback with three Super Bowl wins would have to prove himself even more, but Tom Brady needs to win one more Super Bowl to be considered one of the best of all-time alongside Terry Bradshaw and Brady’s idol, Joe Montana. One more Super Bowl victory would also end the spygate debate and solidify Tom Brady as the best quarterback to ever to play the game.