With journeymen receivers or stars, Tom Brady just wins
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) ā Tom Brady won his first Super Bowl throwing to Troy Brown, Jermaine Wiggins and David Patten and earned his seventh ring firing passes to Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown and Rob Gronkowski.
Thereās a significant talent gap between his first crew of journeymen in New England and the all-star cast he has in Tampa Bay, but the common theme is No. 12.
Brady won with Deion Branch, David Givens, Brandon LaFell, Malcolm Mitchell, Chris Hogan and Danny Amendola, and he helped Julian Edelman and Wes Welker become stars.
Heās relied on throwing to his running backs from J.R. Redmond and Kevin Faulk to Shane Vereen and James White. His tight ends have always been favorite targets from Wiggins, Daniel Graham and Benjamin Watson to Aaron Hernandez, Martellus Bennett and Gronkowski.
Bradyās best receiver along the way was Hall of Famer Randy Moss. They broke records together and went 16-0 in 2007 but didnāt win it all.
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The 44-year-old, five-time Super Bowl MVP faces the Patriots on Sunday night for the first time since leaving New England after 20 years. Heāll see plenty of familiar faces on the opposite sideline, including his leading receiver from their first Super Bowl victory two decades ago.
Troy Brown caught six of Bradyās passes for 89 yards when the Patriots stunned the āGreatest Show on Turfā Rams in Super Bowl 36. Brown now coaches New Englandās wide receivers and kick returners.
āI played with the guy for a long time and coached with him for a couple of years while he was here,ā Brown said. āItās a little bit awkward, but at the end of the day, itās still about competing and going against each other. Thatās what it comes down to. I mean, I know Iām not playing, but still, youāre approaching the game as we do every other team around the league, is that we do everything we can to prepare for what they have. Weāll approach this game the same way, not because Tom Brady is Tom Brady or whatever it is, because itās the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We have a really good football team all around.ā
Brown isnāt surprised Brady is still playing at an elite level all these years later. The GOAT already has 10 touchdown passes in three games, putting him on pace to set a new career high. He threw 50 TD passes, including 23 to Moss, in ā07.
āWell, I think if anybody can pull it off, it would be Tom Brady,ā Brown said. āHeās been that type of guy his entire career. No reason to think that he wouldnāt still be playing. He said when he came into the league that he would play forever. And so, heās trying to make that come true, I guess.ā
Wiggins had two catches for 14 yards in New Englandās first Super Bowl win. The Boston native canāt believe Brady switched teams.
āI still havenāt been able to get over it since he left here. I never thought Iād see it coming where heād be wearing another uniform,ā Wiggins said. āBrady I thought would be that guy that I thought the only uniform he would wear would be the New England Patriots one. Then when he left, it was weird to see him in that Tampa Bay uniform. To this day I canāt get used to it because that championship he won down there I feel like could have been another one he won in New England.ā
Patriots coach Bill Belichick said earlier this week he didnāt want Brady to leave.
āHe looked at his options and made his decision. We werenāt as good of an option as Tampa,ā Belichick said on his weekly radio appearance on WEEI. āYouād have to ask him about all that, but it wasnāt a question of not wanting him, thatās for sure.ā
Brady wouldnāt elaborate on a report that Belichick spoke to him on the phone instead of meeting with him in person when he was a free agent last year.
āAll of those things are super personal. We had a great relationship. I think it was handled the right way. We handled everything as gracefully as we could,ā Brady said. āIt was an amazing time. It was handled perfectly. I think everyone understood where we were at, the people involved in the situation. Things worked out for the best for all of us and weāre all trying to do the best we can do now.ā
For anyone who ever played with Brady, he's always brought out their best.
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AP Sports Writer Kyle Hightower contributed.
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