For as long as we've been loving sports, Boston has taken our success personally, and we take theirs as an assault on our souls.
But there have been a few exceptions to this mutual, deep-rooted disdain. When Mariano Rivera became the first MLB player to be unanimously voted to the Hall of Fame, it reminded us that as much as the Fenway faithful hated the Yankees, they just couldn't summon a foul word for the final No. 42.
So as much as we hate the Patriots, it's time for us to concede our respect for No. 12.
Tom Brady, about to play in his ninth Super Bowl in 18 years - it feels like a typo just writing it - has reached that level, an orbit beyond reprisal or revenge or rancor. No NFL team has played in nine Super Bowls. Even those of us who saw every snap from John Elway and Dan Marino and Brady's personal hero Joe Montana, have to concede that we are witnessing a unique brand of greatness from the Patriots quarterback. Even Eli Manning, who had the Patriots cheat code for two magical years, can't stain Brady's legacy.
With one more Super Bowl ring, Brady will have six, giving him two more than his closest competitors - Terry Bradshaw and Montana. Brady has won 29 playoff games, more than any NFL QB has ever started. To give you a sense of the biblical length of his dominance, there have been 6,210 days between Brady's first Super Bowl and his latest. Both were games against the Rams, oddly enough, and Rams coach Sean McVay was 16 years old when Brady bagged his first Lombardi Trophy. Brady has 2,576 passing yards in the Super Bowl, more than double the next best (Kurt Warner, with 1,156 yards). There have been 36 players who have caught a TD pass in the Super Bowl from Tom Brady, by far the most in history.
Brady's detractors will point to Spygate (not his crime) or Deflategate (a jaywalking ticket Roger Goodell morphed into a murder beef) as pockmarks on his otherwise flawless resume. If you need to lean on legalese to knock Brady down to size, then you're really proving his greatness because you can't point to anything tangible on the gridiron or off.
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Just as Mariano Rivera shocked and delighted us with countless saves and a microscopic ERA into his 40s, Brady is playing the most violent team sport in America with surreal skill and an undrafted rookie's will. He can still name the six quarterbacks drafted before him in 1999 - a glamorous list that includes Tee Martin, Chris Redman, Spergon Wynn, and Giovanni Carmazzi - and is fueled by the fact he was picked in the sixth round, No. 199 overall.
Brady has also left about $100 million in salary on the table to give the team payroll pliability, to sign players they otherwise couldn't afford had Brady demanded his market value.
Sure, there's some glamour boy in Brady. He married the most famous model in the world. But if you hate him for that, it's because you never had that option. Then there's the TB12 wellness program and his personal fitness guru, Alex Guerrero. But Brady waited until he was about 18-years-deep into his career to trade on his name. Hasn't he earned it?
Not to mention everyone who has played with him says he's an astonishingly great teammate, and treats the 53rd player with the same respect he gives Bill Belichick. Former Steelers great James Harrison said he went to New England with a monolithic desire to hate his new QB. Instead, Harrison said Brady stripped him of every ounce of anger and preconceived notions.
Before Boston broke the Bambino's curse, we dismissed them as bitter losers who were eternally envious of the conga line of icons in pinstripes. Let's not be the same whimpering fans and finally embrace Tom Brady. Just as Bostonians couldn't force themselves to loathe the Great Mariano Rivera, it's time for us to tip our caps to the greatest player ever to pass a pigskin.
Follow Jason on Twitter: @JasonKeidel
