In the post-game interview with respected sportscaster, Michele Tafoya, Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was holding back his emotions.
That summed up Sunday’s game for me between the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the defending Super Bowl Champs ˗ the game that made NFL history. By nature, I was tuned into the heart of the game and the drama I imagined was going on behind the scenes for both teams. After 20 years as a Patriot (which is a lifetime by the way), Tom Brady was playing at Gillette Stadium for the first time as member of the opposing team.
We won by a slim margin. But if Brady needed a little wiggle room for this game, his team was 200% behind him. Like champs, they played with heart and without giving an inch. The outstanding defense got the win without racking up the penalty yards, which made a huge difference in this nail biter. My MVP was the Bucs’ running back, Leonard Fournette, who ran his legs off and his heart out. Finally, there was the Bucs’ field goal kicker, Ryan Succop, who absolutely refused to disappoint when we needed him most.
I watched as Tom and many of the Patriot players hugged and shook hands at the end of the game. Brady handled himself with poise and sincerity. Then came the ghost of Coach Bill Belichick. His pale face showed the agony of defeat mixed with something unidentifiable. He reached for Tom, patted his shoulder hard, released him quickly without making eye contact, and walked off. Tom stood like a statue in the space they had carved out. What do they call it when words are not enough? Physicists call it “entanglement,” a state of correlation between two or more particles once they have interacted that will always exist and can never be separated.
Fans, we can put our emotions aside now, because the Buccaneers have chalked up another win on our journey to return triumphantly to the Super Bowl in 2022 – and it’s winning that counts at the end of the day for anyone who has their heart in the game.