TAMPA, Florida – Tom Brady is not passing the torch yet.
Brady, the 43-year-old quarterback who went to Tampa Bay for the final chapter of a career in the Hall of Fame in the first vote, proved that he is still the most dominant quarterback in the league by throwing 201 yards and three touchdowns and winning his fifth Super Bowl MVP and seventh ring, when the Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 in their first Super Bowl win since 2003.
With the victory, Brady has more Super Bowl titles (7) than any franchise in NFL history, surpassing the six won by Steelers and Patriots. Brady also made history with his fifth MVP award, becoming the only player with five. Joe Montana is second with three.
“This team is world champion forever, you can’t take that away from us,” said Brady after the game.
When asked if he would return next season, he added: “We are returning.”
Brady joked with the Chiefs’ wide receiver Tyreek Hill in July that he would try his seventh ring after Hill promised a Chiefs dynasty with seven of them. With the win, Brady is 3-2 against Patrick Mahomes. His first two wins came in games in which he built a double-digit advantage in half and avoided the Chiefs’ furious twists.
This time, however, there would be no return.
There would be only Brady and the talented teammates he attracted to Tampa Bay when he went south to prove he was more than a piece in the Bill Belichick dynasty. The victory shows that he is the type of transcendent player who does not need a particular organization to build a dynasty. He can do this anytime, anywhere, in any uniform.
He did this on Sunday with Rob Gronkowski – a longtime fellow of the Patriots he convinced to come out of retirement with sun promises and another Super Bowl ring – and Leonard Fournette, which he convinced to sign in Tampa Bay after the first. rounder was cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
And he did it with Antonio Brown, the troubled wide receiver who wanted another chance in the NFL and was given refuge by a quarterback who wanted yet another attacking talent who had almost everything.
Gronkowski followed his friend to Florida and was rewarded with the first two touchdowns of the night. His pair of scores, one in a game option 8 yards from the goal line and the other in a 17-yard reception, pushed the Buccaneers so far ahead of the Chiefs that Kansas City’s field goal markers were not enough.
“It’s great to see important players making important plays,” said Brady. “I just loved what they did, what they added to the team. Gronk is an incredible player, teammate, talent, work ethic, commitment. And AB is that since he came here, he did everything right. So impressed with him. Proud of him.
“It takes a lot of people to get to this point and we all have excellent support systems and I think everyone should be celebrating tonight.”
In a game announced to be the changing of the guard between Brady, the original GOAT, and Mahomes, the future GOAT, the veteran quarterback was lethal in effectively separating the defense from the Chiefs. He completed 10 of 13 passes for 90 yards with three touchdowns in the first half, two for Gronkowski and one for Brown with less than a minute to spare.
In the third quarter, Brady completed just 4 of 6 attempts for 55 yards, but his 25-yard finish for Gronkowski in the third period set up a 27-yard Fournette touchdown a move later.
While Tampa Bay’s young, tenacious defense hit Mahomes, the Buccaneers’ offensive line kept Brady almost unscathed in his pocket. The Chief’s defensive side, Frank Clark, recorded Brady’s only serve from the first quarter.
Although the younger superstar quarterbacks are about to take charge of the league, Brady defied the trend during the regular season and didn’t stop until he captured his seventh Super Bowl ring in his new stadium, surrounded by fans who embraced the quarterback as their own.