As far as sports is concerned, the term ‘legend' is used with far too much regularity, and that has led to the dilution of its meaning and strength. However, when it comes to veteran quarterback Tom Brady, it's perhaps a word that doesn't go far enough to address just how much he has achieved in the American football world.
The 44-year-old did, of course, make his name under the tutelage of Bill Belichick during a run at the New England Patriots that saw Brady rack up six Super Bowl triumphs, three of which came between 2001 and 2004 and another three coming between 2014 and 2018.
He then contentiously left the Gillette Stadium side, and it would be fair to say that most betting enthusiasts wouldn't have backed Brady to replicate his accomplishments at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, at least not so immediately.
Indeed, the odds of doing so may well be more in line with the type of statistical action you'd get at the roulette table at the BlackLotus Casino, but nonetheless, the impossible has become very plausible, such is the legendary feats Tom Brady is still capable of pulling off.
In his first season at Tampa, Brady completed a 14-3 record and saw his side win their first NFL Super Bowl in almost twenty years, picking off Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the process. Now talk of an eighth Super Bowl ring is not just discussed; it's now openly expected.
Brady has been in superb form once again in 2021; the ageing QB leads the stats in almost all departments. No one has completed more yards; he's more than 200 clear of Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr; he's completed more passing touchdowns than any of his competitors and shows no sign of slowing down any time soon.
It seems that the only factor that could affect Brady's ongoing success is if he gets too much of it, which may sound like something of a contradiction.
Brady has often spoken of the key moment in his career when in 2008, he tasted a Super Bowl loss for the first time when his Patriots lost to the New York Giants 14-17, which led to an increased desire for success.
“Had we won that game, I'm not a big hypothetical guy, but maybe the desire is a little bit different if you're looking at [a] silver lining,” Brady stated.
“Maybe the desire to reach that point, maybe I would have been fulfilled, not to stop playing at that time, but I don't know, maybe I play another seven or eight years, and I'm fulfilled.
And I knew that if I ever won a Super Bowl again, I was going to celebrate the [expletive] out of that one.”
And indeed, so he did. Brady lost again to the Giants the following year but has gone on to pick up a number of Super Bowl rings, and it would take a brave person to bet against him getting that eighth ring at Super Bowl LVI next February.
