Super Bowl Edition: The tainting of a legacy?

BOSTON--  To Mo Lewis, it was just another tackle, on just another ordinary day, in just another ordinary football game.  However, in one swift, bone-crushing take down of Patriots QB Drew Bledsoe, the former Jets linebacker forever altered the game of football.

On September 23, 2001, a legacy was born.  At the time nobody knew it, in- fact, I'm willing to bet that at the time nobody even knew who Tom Brady was.  Not the announcers, not the fans, heck maybe not even some of his own teammates!  To all of them, number 12 was nothing more than a sixth round pick out of Michigan who would only see the field if their QB got hurt, something that rarely happened to Drew Bledsoe.

Well, I guess Mo Lewis didn't get that memo.

But I bet he wishes he did.

You know the rest of the story.  Brady takes over, wins it all in 02', then again in 04', then again in 05', and then comes up three points short in '08.

Quite a run, huh?

Along the way he's racked up seven Pro Bowl appearances, and four MVP awards- two in the Super Bowl and two in the regular season.  Not to mention who his wife is, you know, that one billionaire super model?  I think her name's Giselle..

Not a bad resume for a sixth round scrub, wouldn't you say?  Three rings, four MVP's, and a super model to come home to every night.  Brady could stop right now and be considered one of the greatest QB's the game of football has ever seen, right?

Well, maybe not.

Since his Super Bowl run nearly four years ago, the great "Tawmy Brady," as he's referred to here in New England, has become more known, not for what he's achieved, but for what he hasn't.  With every year that falls short of a ring, and with every playoff game that leaves Brady walking off the field a loser, those great championship runs of years past become harder and harder to remember.

As hard as it is to fathom, to some, Tom Brady is running out of time.

To some, Sunday's game in Indianapolis will be one of two things:

The demise of the Brady era in New England.

Or the continuation of it.

After a decade of dominance, Tom Brady's illustrious career may come down to one game, four quarters, 60 minutes.  Nevermind the previous ten years.  Nevermind the 124 career wins.  Nevermind the 14 career playoff wins to only 5 losses.  All that, to some, goes out the window with another Super Bowl loss.

Because society today won't focus on the 14 wins.

It'll focus on the 5 losses.

You see, controversy sells in America.  It's the negative we tend to focus on, not the positive.  Look at Tim Tebow.  Look at Lebron James.  Look at Tiger Woods.  Look at Joe Paterno.  These are four of the biggest sports icons over the past year, but not for the right reasons.

Tebow went 8-4 as a starter this year, but he prayed to much.

Lebron is the second coming of Michael Jordan, but he hasn't won a championship yet.

Tiger is arguably one of the greatest golfers of all time, but he hasn't won in two years.

And JoePa has the most wins in college football history, but one bad decision ten years ago is all we can talk about.

We no longer see the good in the people, we only see the bad.  Society today searches, digs, and claws at the negative, while at the same time ignoring the positive, sweeping it under the rug like it never happened.

And the more we see the negative, the more Brady see's it.  Don't think so?  Did you see his last game?  Did you see his comments following it?

And now he's got Giselle asking for prayers for cryin' out loud!

Prayers!  For Tom Brady!  Since when has a three time champion, seven time Pro Bowler, and four time MVP award winner needed help from the man upstairs!?  The once unbreakable Tom Brady is beginning to crack.  No, he's not broken yet, but he's showing signs of fraying.

A win on Sunday will patch that crack right back up, and bring back to life a once unbreakable legacy.

But a loss, as unfair and ludicrous as it may sound, could forever taint it.