Tom Brady cemented his legacy as the greatest quarterback in NFL history with the New England Patriots’ thrilling 34-28 comeback victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI.
Although Brady would never tell you that his fifth ring meant more than the first four, his father would.
Tom Brady Sr. sat down with MMQB.com’s Albert Breer to discuss the significance of the historic victory.
“Yes, it did,” Brady Sr. told Breer. “It did. It did. Winning five Super Bowls, and coming back from all the stuff that he was accused of, that was a very difficult thing for the whole family, to be impugned. And lo and behold … It just meant a lot. It just meant a lot because anybody who’s watched him play football for 15 years, in cold weather, in heat, on the road or at home, knows what he’s been.
“It just meant redemption, frankly. It meant redemption. It meant that all of these people that questioned his authenticity are non-entities from this point on.”
The star quarterback had a more personal reason than the Deflategate scandal to want to hoist a fifth Lombardi Trophy — the health of his mother, Galynn, who was diagnosed with cancer 18 months ago.
“It was just awesome,” the elder Brady told Breer. “He puts everything he can into every single game. But this one, I heard he just said, ‘I’m winning this one for my mom.’ That one jerks the tear ducts big-time. … She lives and dies with every one of her children, whether it’s in a football game or anything else. And she was very thankful.”
That’s not to say that the four-game suspension the NFL hit Brady with over Deflategate hasn’t been on the family’s mind.
“It was very heavy on us for two years,” Brady Sr. told Breer. “This one puts everything behind us, and we can just say, ‘Y’know, no one gives a toot about what he was accused of, except that the league wanted to flex its muscle.’ That’s over and done with.
“It’s in the rear-view mirror. We don’t need anybody’s approval to validate everything that he’s done.”
His record-setting MVP performance took care of that.
Thumbnail photo via Bob Donnan/USA TODAY Sports Images
