{"id":20357,"date":"2017-01-25T07:29:37","date_gmt":"2017-01-25T07:29:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=20357"},"modified":"2017-01-25T07:29:37","modified_gmt":"2017-01-25T07:29:37","slug":"tom-brady-has-made-super-bowl-his-stage-and-he-commands-it-like-no-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/tom-brady-has-made-super-bowl-his-stage-and-he-commands-it-like-no-other.html","title":{"rendered":"Tom Brady has made Super Bowl his stage, and he commands it like no other"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tom Brady has made Super Bowl his stage, and he commands it like no other<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

For all of his records and Super Bowl rings, Tom Brady\u2019s greatness is best illustrated by one number:<\/span><\/p>\n

13.7.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s the percentage of Super Bowls in which Brady has played. Hundreds and hundreds of players have gone their entire careers without getting to one \u2013 including some of the best in the game. Yet Super Bowl LI (51 for those who struggle with the Roman numerals) will be Brady\u2019s seventh appearance.<\/span><\/p>\n

You do the math. And then take a second or two to absorb the result, one unlikely to be duplicated in the next 51 years, if at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a guy that, no matter how successful he is, he keeps pushing forward to get better,\u201d said left tackle Nate Solder, who has been responsible for protecting Brady\u2019s blind side for most of the past five years. \u201cThat rubs off on all of us. That rubs off on the entire team.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There are many outside of New England loath to give Brady his due. With his surly coach, supermodel wife, California cover boy looks and Uggs commercials, he and all of his wins are easy to dislike. And that was before the Deflategate saga that will be mentioned a time or 200 over these next two weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n

But while Brady can be polarizing in a way Steve Young and Peyton Manning never were, to focus on his seemingly charmed life off the field is to miss the singular brilliance of his performance on it.<\/span><\/p>\n

He was not a surefire NFL star; the New England Patriots picked him in the sixth round, a spot in the draft more likely to produce career backups and anonymous linemen than four-time Super Bowl champions.<\/span><\/p>\n

His supporting cast changes as frequently as that of an off-Broadway show \u2013 Deion Branch, Wes Welker, Randy Moss, Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman, just to name a few \u2013 and often includes players who are stars as much for their proximity to Brady as their own abilities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Take Sunday night\u2019s win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game. Chris Hogan set a Patriots postseason record with 180 yards receiving as he caught two of Brady\u2019s three TD passes in the 36-17 rout, continuing what has been a breakout season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hogan, Welker, Martellus Bennett, Christian Fauria, Daniel Graham \u2013 all were their best selves when they were playing with Brady. That\u2019s not a coincidence.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou think about basketball, and there are some point guards who make the team better \u2026 with the way they distribute the ball and the way they organize the plays and make things happen,\u201d Bennett said, mentioning John Stockton and Chris Paul.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTom\u2019s like one of the great point guards.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Though he is pushing 40, an age where most quarterbacks are notably in decline, Brady is playing as well as ever. In his 15 years as a starter \u2013 he missed the 2008 season after shredding his knee in the first half of the season opener \u2013 he has never failed to complete less than 60% of his passes or finished with a quarterback rating lower than 83.9.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite missing the first four games of this season while he served his Deflategate suspension, Brady finished with 28 touchdowns, a 67.4% completion rate and a 112.2 QB rating.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most importantly, he led the Patriots back to the Super Bowl for a seventh time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are only two teams left standing and we\u2019re one of them,\u201d Brady said. \u201cThat\u2019s what our goal is and it\u2019s nice to be able to achieve that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/columnist\/nancy-armour\/2017\/01\/23\/tom-brady-super-bowl-li-2017-new-england-patriots-atlanta-falcons\/96970776\/<\/span><\/div>\n

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