Author page: Fambeat

Children across the United States dream of taking up football and claiming Super Bowl glory as professionals. For many players, the chance to win a single ring in their career is the culmination of a lifelong dream. However, Tom Brady is no ordinary player, and his fans consider a season without a Super Bowl as an offseason. 

The former New England Patriots quarterback reached a record nine Super Bowls and won six. He claimed the Super Bowl MVP four times and had a 50% success rate in the AFC Championship game in 18 seasons as a starter.

Brady holds many Super Bowl records which include most passing yards in a single game (505), most cumulative passing yards (2838), and most touchdown passes (18), most game pass attempts (62), and most career pass attempts (392).

He is the stuff of legends and will go down as a once in a lifetime player. We look at each of his Super Bowl appearances. 

Super Bowl XXXVI: Tom Brady wins his maiden Super Bowl 

New England Patriots finished rock bottom of the AFC East in 2000. Their season started horrendously when Drew Bledsoe sustained an injury. In retrospect, fans can view this as one of the all-time iconic moments in Patriots history as a future Hall of Famer, Tom Brady got his chance in the spotlight.

Under Brady, the team’s fortunes changed. They won 10 of their next 14 games, secured the top seed, and advanced to Super Bowl XXXVI.

New England started slowly and only got onto the board in the second quarter. This came in the form of a pick-six. Later, Tom Brady got into the act and hurled a touchdown pass to help New England head into halftime, 11 points to the good. 

Under Kurt Warner, the St. Louis Rams mounted a comeback with the teams tied at 17-17 heading into the dying seconds of regular time. Here, Brady displayed poise under pressure. He advanced with the threat of an interception looming large. 

The quarterback started over 80 yards away from the end zone. In the next 8 plays, he advanced 53 yards to get within field goal range. No Super Bowl had ever gone into overtime, and Adam Vinatieri had destiny at his right foot. 

The placekicker sent a huge 48-yard effort through the uprights at the Louisiana Superdome to clinch the Foxborough side’s first Super Bowl. 

Tom Brady completed 16/27 passes for a 59.25% completion rate. He threw one touchdown pass and helped his side advance for the crucial final field goal attempt. As a result, he got voted the Super Bowl MVP. 

Super Bowl XXXVIII: Tom Brady and The Patriots do an encore

Two years after his monumental win, Brady returned to the Super Bowl. The New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers played a scoreless opening quarter and remained even right until 26:55. 

Tom Brady rushed 12 yards to earn a fresh set of downs and prolong the side’s sixth drive. Finally, he located wide receiver Deion Branch, who sprinted into the end zone and broke the deadlock.

167 seconds later, New England scored their second touchdown. The effort came after just 49 seconds after the Panthers responded with a touchdown. 

The final 185 seconds of the half yielded a cumulative 24 points in the form of three touchdowns and a 50-yard field goal by the Carolina Panthers.

In the fourth quarter, The Panthers scored two touchdowns to take the lead but failed in the subsequent two-point attempt on both occasions. 

The New England Patriots had their backs to the wall with under three minutes left. Tom Brady made huge gains on the back of a 68-yard drive across 11 plays. On the play’s final down, he passed to linebacker Mike Vrabel for a one-yard touchdown. It was all or nothing for New England who opted for a two-point effort to go seven clear with 2:51 left. 

Now, Carolina had to score a touchdown and send the kick good just to tie the game. New England’s two-point gamble paid off as a point or a missed kick would have handed the initiative to the NFC champions.

The Panthers tied the game at 29-29 with a minute left. Following the template of two years ago, Brady remained cool under pressure in the final 60 seconds to advance 37 yards and get Vinatieri within range.

https://youtu.be/WX6vioW7SZc

The kick flew through the uprights and New England clinched their second Super Bowl. Brady passed for 354 yards with a 66.6% passer completion and three touchdowns and clinched the game MVP. 

Super Bowl XXXIX: Tom Brady and the New England Patriots defend the Vincent Lombardi Trophy

No team has achieved this feat until the 2020 NFL season. The Patriots came close in 2018, but defending the trophy is very tough. The Philadelphia Eagles scored first at the home of Jacksonville Jaguars, but New England responded strongly through Tom Brady with touchdown passes on either side of halftime.

New England faced adversity as The Eagles mounted a 10 play 74-yard drive to head to the final quarter level on points with the AFC Champions. 

Unlike their previous triumphs, New England wasn’t playing against the clock at Super Bowl XXXIX. They took the game out of reach with a touchdown early in the fourth courtesy of Corey Dillon. Five minutes later, The Patriots went 10 points clear with a 22-year field goal.