#MIDDLEBURY
By Mark Vasto
If you’ve done a little studying in your life, you know there are abstract concepts you can ponder (think Descartes) and cold, hard facts (I was told there would be no math, however). The scientific method teaches us that we learn by observing. So, by any measure, if you watched Super Bowl 51, you witnessed something that can only be called irrefutable in the truest, most classic form of the word: Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. is the greatest quarterback to ever play the game of football, in any era, in any stadium, in any game, for any team, ever.
I don’t know what it is about the New England Patriots that inspires every coach not named Tom Coughlin to shave hundreds of IQ points off their cerebrum in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl. This bewildering tendency to just do the stupidest things imaginable with the Patriots on the ropes is almost as awe-inspiring as Brady’s leveling up in response each time. The Seahawks passing instead of running? The Falcons acting like they smoked legal weed at halftime? It almost looks like the equivalent of Ali knocking out Sonny Liston without laying a glove on him.
Either way, Brady is the greatest of all time. This cannot be disputed any longer. Five Super Bowl rings will tend to work in your legacy’s favor. It’s a matter of record that I called for a Falcons-Patriots Super Bowl, and I have the texts to prove that I believed the smart money was on the Patriots to win and cover the spread, beating the over.
But like anyone who grew up a Giants fan and can’t stand seeing Ben Affleck any more than I absolutely must, I was pulling for the Falcons. It’s a great franchise, headed up by a great owner, led by Matt Ryan, the rightful MVP. The people and fans of Atlanta are championship starved, and on any other Sunday, against any other team, they would be coming home with the hardware.
But how could you not root for Brady in the final minutes of the fourth quarter? In overtime? After his 60th passing attempt? And how could you not smirk along with him as Roger Goodell – possibly the worst commissioner in organized sports history, the guy that stupidly suspended the league’s only real marquee star over a few ounces of missing air – had to hand the Lombardi Trophy to him? If your life depended on it, could you imagine starting any other quarterback?
Baby Boomers and subsequent generations have witnessed some of the greatest players and athletes of all time. We’ve seen Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jordan, Gretzky, Howe, Bonds, Ali, Federer, Nicklaus, Woods, Serena Williams … and now we can say we saw Tom Brady. And nobody summed it up better than the man himself.
“I’ve been labeled a cheater. I’ve been suspended. My mom is dealing with cancer. I’ve been ripped for my Donald Trump friendship. I’m playing the Super Bowl against the MVP of the league (Matt Ryan). I was a sixth-round pick, No. 199. Nothing is easy. Nothing is handed to me. I’m going to do what I set out to do in this league from the start. And that is become the greatest quarterback that ever played.”
Greatest quarterback to ever play the game? Absolutely. Roger that. You bet your life.
Mark Vasto is a veteran sportswriter who lives in New Jersey.
(c) 2017 King Features Synd. Inc.
