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He’s two decades and 347 games in the most successful career in NFL history, but Tom Brady still isn’t done winning Super Bowls.
The 43-year-old extended his record with his seventh Super Bowl crown on Sunday, leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to their second title with a 31-9 win over defending champions Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes.
What was expected to crown the 25-year-old quarterback as Brady’s logical successor (the Chiefs were easy favorites) instead turned into one of the biggest statement games the league has ever seen.
Brady has not only proven that he can win his boss for his first nine Super Bowl appearances without New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, but the future Hall of Famer has made powerful arguments for and against retirement at the same time.
On the one hand, Brady has nothing left to prove, even if he still has one season left on his two-year, $ 50 million deal he signed with Tampa Bay in March.
On the other hand, why should Brady retire now if he’s still able to throw three touchdowns in a Super Bowl win?
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After some early fighting, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady found Rob Gronkowski on two touchdowns

A frustrated Patrick Mahomes returns to the sidelines in the second quarter of Super Bowl LV on Sunday in Tampa

Rob Gronkowski now has five career touchdown receptions after picking up a pair from Brady in the first half on Sunday

After several turbulent seasons in Pittsburgh, followed by short, equally turbulent stints in Oakland and New England, Antonio Brown has found a home in Tampa, where he received a 1-yard touchdown pass from Bucs QB Tom Brady on Sunday

Buccaneer’s QB Tom Brady spoke to Bully Mathieu, defender for the Kansas City Chiefs, during the first half of Super Bowl LV

Tampa Bay extended its lead to 28-9 on a 27-yard touchdown in the third quarter by knocking back Leonard Fournette, a former first-round player who signed with the Bucs after being cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars
The highly anticipated quarterback matchup between Kansas City’s Brady and Patrick Mahomes began as an early defensive battle until the Chiefs took a 3-0 lead in the first frame. After Bradys Bucs accumulated just 16 yards on their first two drives, Mahomes devised an eight-game, 31-yard drive that culminated with Harrison Butker’s 49-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.
Brady responded with a 75-yard drive that ended with the 8-yard scoring pass Gronkowski, who retired ahead of the 2020 season to reunite with his longtime teammate in Tampa. The catch was Gronkowski’s fourth touchdown catch from Brady, which is showing its 10th Super Bowl on Sunday.
The Chiefs nearly gave up another touchdown but managed to reach a goal-line stand to begin the second quarter.
Unfortunately for Kansas City, a major penalty for holding defensive negated an interception by Brady and allowed him and Gronkowski to reconnect, this time with a 17-yard touchdown pass.
The Chiefs’ Butker has three field goals for the game, the longest of which was kicked from 52 yards.
The Buccaneers extended their lead to 28-9 on a 27-yard touchdown in the third quarter by running back on Leonard Fournette, a former first-round player who signed with the Bucs after being cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Patrick Mahomes absorbed a hit from Buccaneers outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett in the first half of Super Bowl LV

Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church play the national anthem before Super Bowl LV between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium

Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church play the national anthem as the Air Force fly over between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium prior to Super Bowl LV


After Bradys Bucs accumulated just 16 yards on their first two drives, Mahomes devised an eight-game, 31-yard drive that culminated with Harrison Butker’s 49-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead (pictured).
The defending champions Chiefs have reason to be optimistic on Sunday.
Sammy Watkins, the Kansas City recipient, was cleared to play Sunday night after missing the last three games with a calf injury. That gives Mahomes another trustworthy target that rivals Tyreek Hill, Demarcus Robinson and Mecole Hardman, as well as Travis Kelce.
Brady, meanwhile, has both wide receiver Antonio Brown and tight end Cameron Brate to throw to after being inactive with the Buccaneers this week.
Brown suspended Tampa Bay’s NFC championship game win over Green Bay due to a knee injury. Brate had looked at a previous problem that had plagued him earlier this week.
The buccaneers will also have collateral for Jordan Whitehead (shoulder) and Antoine Winfield Jr. (ankle) in secondary school after they are both identified as questionable.
Tampa Bay’s LeSean McCoy can also be played after being inactive for the Super Bowl win in Kansas City last year.
Inactive for the Chiefs are: Darwin Thompson, Ricky Seals-Jones, Matt Moore, Tim Ward, Khalen Saunders and Bopete Keyes and Chris Lammons.
For the Buccaneers, Ke’Shawn Vaughn, wide receiver Justin Watson, quarterbacks Ryan Griffin and Drew Stanton, Antony Auclair and defenders Khalil Davis and Jeremiah Ledbetter are inactive.

Rob Gronkowski # 87 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tips the ball after a touchdown reception from eight yards in the first quarter

The Chiefs had a pivotal stand on the goal line in the second quarter that prevented the Buccaneers from taking an 11-point lead

Linesman Sarah Thomas became the first woman to preside over a Super Bowl at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Sunday

Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, runs on the field during warm-up hours before the AFC Champion Kansas City Chiefs plays in the National Football League Super Bowl LV at the NF Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa
The mere fact that there is a Super Bowl this season is no small matter considering what the league and the country have been through with the ongoing pandemic.
It took nearly 1 million COVID tests, thousands of Zoom meetings, a dozen or so rescheduled games, and immeasurable flexibility for the NFL to not miss a single one of its 269 regular-season and post-season games amid a global pandemic.
Game # 269, the Super Bowl, is fascinating for the quarterback matchup between young (Mahomes) and old (Brady). But also for the 22,000 socially distant fans present, as the NFL is the last of the four major professional sports leagues in the country to declare a champion amid the pandemic.
The NFL, and society in general, hope that America’s biggest sports celebration doesn’t become the mother of superspreader events, either in the stadium or at the inevitable thousands of high-fiving chip-dipping and hugging Super Bowl parties planned across the country.
Given that the Super Bowl’s key results – the spike or no spike in the COVID numbers – won’t be known until long after the bottom line is released, and the bulk of the $ 4.3 billion stakes expected settled, the NFL was still scoring points by merely making it to the finish line without major disruption.
‘The fact that each team played the correct number of games. and that most people didn’t get sick is real testament to their persistence in making that happen, ”said Dennis Deninger, who teaches a Super Bowl and social class for the Syracuse Sports Management division.
Player and league resilience was a light tone this winter as coronavirus devastated the United States and the world. The NFL’s ability to keep the show moving – if not perfectly – reinforced the sport’s strong position in American culture. A debate has also sparked on whether the country and the league have clear priorities, as the resources for playing football may have been used elsewhere.

Chiefs and Bucs fans celebrate in the end zone next to the pirate ship at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa

President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden is featured on a scoreboard screen broadcasting a message ahead of the NFL Super Bowl 55 soccer game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday

Around 22,000 socially distant fans will take part in the pandemic’s first (and hopefully last) Super Bowl

General view of the pirate ship prior to Super Bowl LV between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium

A vaccinated Florida doctor who did not reveal her name held up a sign outside Raymond James Stadium on Sunday

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers do not wear home uniforms, but the NFC Champions play in their home stadium

A contestant sits in the stands before Super Bowl LV between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday
“In a way, you say, it doesn’t feel right to talk about and think about sport in the middle of a pandemic,” said Ketra Armstrong, director of the University of Michigan Center for Race and Ethnicity in Sport. “But if you believe that sport can play a role in the psyche of the country, and you understand what level people will be playing sports at, you can appreciate the NFL efforts that have been made to make the season.” to enable. ”
In fact, the NFL’s efforts served more than just benefit the league’s own interests. Using the 957,000 or so tests it conducted on more than 7,500 players and staff as the backbone of its research, the NFL, in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control, published a paper describing testing protocols, mitigation strategies, and contact tracing measures that are also useful could be in high density environments such as schools and long term care facilities.
A key conclusion from the paper was that “although the protocols implemented by the NFL were resource-intensive” – that is, the league had a lot of money and labor to implement a testing program few other organizations would dream of – was much of the lessons learned valuable.
“The idea was to test frequently to see when you got a positive result, and to isolate and track that closely,” said Commissioner Roger Goodell as he did some sort of winning lap at his annual Super Bowl press conference earlier this week. “We don’t think there was a safer place to be than an NFL facility this year. We didn’t doubt that for a second. ‘

Tampa Bay Buccaneers players race onto the field as they are featured before the Super Bowl LV

Fans social distancing when they watch a pre-Super Bowl LV stage show between the Chiefs and Buccaneers on Sunday

All fans were required to wear masks, although this Kansas City Chiefs fan decided against the N95 model

Devin White # 45 and Rob Gronkowski # 87 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers compete before the Super Bowl LV

A Chiefs fan behind clippings of fans at Raymond James Stadium, hours before the AFC Champion Kansas City Chiefs plays the NFC Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The season was far from perfect. Due to rescheduling, games were played every day of the week, including Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The Titans, Ravens, Browns, and Steelworkers were among those who witnessed high-profile outbreaks that threatened not just their cadres, but the entire operation of the league. In the biggest debacle of the season, the Broncos had to play a game with a wide receiver who played quarterback after all members of the QB group were quarantined late.
Goodell said all decisions were made in order to prioritize safety above everything, including the NFL’s longstanding calling card – competitive balance.
And yet, as Goodell pointed out, the offensive came at a record pace, and 70 percent of this season’s games were decided by eight points or less – confirming that even with a pandemic, anyone can beat anyone on a given Sunday in the NFL.
As the playoffs progressed, some developments felt more normal, even if they didn’t always reflect the league well.
There was a week of waiting to see if Mahomes would play in the AFC championship game after being included in the league’s much-discussed “concussion protocol” after his head hit the turf in the previous week’s win. Mahomes returned a week after the scary incident and led the Chiefs to the Super Bowl.
The two biggest news off the field revolved around a high-stakes quarterback carousel where marquee callers Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford the teams (Goff to the Lions and Stafford to the Rams) and DeShaun Watson of the Texans made a deal demanded.

It probably won’t feel like a home game as the Bucs are the first team to play a Super Bowl on their field due to crowd restrictions

Tampa Bay Buccaneers v Kansas City Chiefs – Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida, USA – February 7, 2021 Fans wearing protective face masks are surrounded by cut-out photos of fans to maintain social distancing due to coronavirus disease (COVID- 19). before the game
More worrisome was the annual reminder of the NFL’s generally poor record of hiring minorities for coaching and front office positions.

Buccaneers fans will arrive at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. For Super Bowl LV on Sunday, February 7th

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes goes over the Super Bowl LV logo prior to Super Bowl LV against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium

Tampa Bay’s Ndamukong Suh (right), one of the most consistent defenders in the last decade, warms up on Sunday
“We had hired two minority coaches and it wasn’t what we expected,” said the commissioner of the seven head coaching positions in the league this year. “And not what we expect for the future.”
It undermined advances made earlier in the season when Goodell, taking the temperature of a country torn by increasing demands for social justice, admitted that the League should have paid more attention to Colin Kaepernick than he did his own form of protest began by kneeling on the sidelines four seasons ago.
“We know the NFL has failed miserably in many ways because it’s socially and culturally responsible and demonstrating that it has a racist conscience,” Armstrong said. “They hope they can use this unique moment to maximize the power of the sport. You can do a lot. They should do a lot more. ‘
It was clear, however, that the focus this season wasn’t on the imperfections of the NFL, but on the games themselves. A couple of months to see what other sports were doing right and wrong, the NFL came up with a plan, revised it, revised it again and released all of their games, albeit in front of mostly empty stadiums. According to Goodell, a total of 1.2 million people attended games that would have been watched live by up to 17 million people in a normal season.
The big hit was a marquee matchup that was played in front of 22,000 spectators with the two biggest names in football: Brady vs. Mahomes.
“The NFL and many sports served corporate organizations in America as examples of how, once you make up your mind, you can find ways to contain the virus and continue doing what you do,” Deninger said.