Tom Brady advances to his 10th Super Bowl
Tom Brady made global headlines when he decided to leave the New England Patriots after two decades with the team. Brady had spent his entire 21-year career in New England, reaching nine Super Bowls and winning six of them. He had been named Super Bowl MVP on four separate occasions with the Patriots, while also taking home three NFL MVP honors during that span.
While many were questioning his decision, Brady opted to start anew in the NFC and join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The doubters were all proven wrong on Sunday though as Brady led the Buccaneers to a big win at Lambeau Field against the Green Bay Packers to advance to the Super Bowl. It’ll be Brady’s first appearance since he won it with New England in 2018 beating the Los Angeles Rams and the 10th of his career.
“It’s been a great journey thus far,” Brady said in the postgame virtual press conference, via ESPN. “We put the work in. Guys just embraced everything, really, when [Arians] got here last year. There was a lot of great things that were happening, a lot of great young players. I just made a decision. I’ve loved coming to work every day with this group of guys.”
Prior to Brady’s arrival this season, the Buccaneers had missed out on the playoffs for 12 consecutive seasons, last qualifying in 2007. The last time Tampa Bay appeared in a Super Bowl was when they defeated the Oakland Raiders in 2002 to win their first and only one.
“We were at 7-5 seven games ago, not feeling great. We felt like we needed to find our rhythm. We played four games down the stretch the last quarter of the season, and then after that, it was just all bonus,” said Brady, who entered the postseason for the first time as a road wild-card team.
“The guys came through. Everyone stepped up to the challenge… It takes everybody, and everybody plays a role. I’m just so proud of this whole team and blessed to be a part of it.”
What makes the Buccaneers’ playoff run even more incredible is that they managed to win every playoff game on the road thus far. They finished second in the NFC South and were a Wild Card team as a result. That didn’t stop them from beating Washington, New Orleans and Green Bay on the road. They will have the opportunity to play their first home game of the postseason in the Super Bowl, as Tampa Bay’s Raymond James Stadium was the predetermined host of Super Bowl LV.
“I guess when I was holding the Halas Trophy, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. We’re actually gonna do it,'” Tampa Bay head coach Bruce Arians said following his team’s victory, via ESPN. “We can dream about looking across the street [at the stadium] for two weeks.”
“It was obviously the goal of ours to start the season, but getting to the Super Bowl wasn’t what our goal is,” Arians said. “Our goal was to win it.”
The Super Bowl kicks off on February 7th at 6:30 pm ET between the Buccaneers and the defending champions the Kansas City Chiefs.
