All Good Things End

So. I won't die before Tom Brady retires after all.

And while all good things do come to an end, somehow, it still feels too soon. Does greatness ever end or does it live on forever in story and song? Who plays Brady in the HBO Max limited series? Who plays young Brady?

The pigskin memories, like Brady's NFL records, are too many to list, but if you will indulge me, gentle reader, a few that come to mind…

How improbable that first Super Bowl win seemed at the time. We were all John Madden. Chills. A magical pigskin moment, as those lovable underdogs from New England won what felt like a once in a lifetime championship in the wake of 9/11. We were all Patriots then. 

The utter dominance of the 2003-04 Patriots still seems underplayed to me. Back to back 14-2-0 regular seasons - including a 21-game winning streak - capped by back to back Super Bowl wins. Ridiculous. Think about it. Brady was already a first ballot hall of famer at that point. Seventeen years ago!

The 2013 to 2018 run with the Patriots making it to the AFC Championship six straight years, going to the Super Bowl in four of those years and taking home three Lombardi Trophies. I thought Super Bowl 49 was the greatest game I had ever seen, with Brady overcoming a 10-point deficit in the 4th quarter against the Legion of Boom. Until Super Bowl 51 and 28-3. (So glad I didn't leave the party at Steve and Kathy's that night. Looking at you, Fred.) Even in defeat, Brady was amazing, setting a Super Bowl record with 505 yards passing in the Super Bowl loss to the Eagles.

The AFC Championship game in Kansas City when everyone thought the Patriots sucked and couldn't win. Brady played in so many Super Bowls, it's hard for playoff, let alone regular season games, to find a spot on Tom Brady's Greatest Games but this one has got to be on that list.

Brady in OT in the playoffs. Every time.

And then, when pigskin pundits and bobbleheads were sure he was done, Brady took the worst team in all professional sports to the Super Bowl and won yet another Super Bowl MVP in his first year with Tampa Bay. During a pandemic. At 43-years of age. Oh, yeah, the Buccaneers were a Wild Card team so Brady had to go on the road to win against Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, before the first "home team Super Bowl," beating Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. What's the probability of that? Beating Brees, Rodgers, and Mahomes in consecutive games? 

I mean, who does stuff like that?

Thomas Edward Patrick Brady, Jr. 

Tommy. 

Indomitable. 

Inevitable. 

Unprecedented.

Unicorn? 

GOAT.