Love him or hate him, he did it again.
Sunday night Tom Brady and the New England Patriots left Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta with their sixth Super Bowl victory.
It was far from pleasing to the eye. There was only one touchdown between the teams, and it was not even thrown by either quarterback in a quarterback-driven NFL.
Nonetheless, Brady completed the unimaginable journey through this year’s playoffs and etched out another space for a Vince Lombardi Trophy in his trophy case.
That said, it's now time for Brady to accomplish one more NFL goal: retire.
In 19 years as the quarterback for the Patriots, Brady has won six championships in nine appearances, amassed over 70,000 passing yards, thrown over 500 touchdowns, has made 14 Pro Bowl appearances and is an all-but-certain first ballot Hall of Famer when the selection committee comes calling. That time should come sooner rather than later for Brady.
Despite delivering another championship for New England, this year was the first time the 41-year-old’s age started to show. Eight times in the regular season he threw one touchdown or less, including two regular season games without one at all.
At times he was all over the place with his accuracy. Normally simple under routes Brady has consistently delivered on became increasingly less reliable.
In all, he looked closer to a game manager than a Hall of Fame quarterback.
This year's postseason also saw Brady throw more interceptions than touchdowns.
He threw just one touchdown in the team’s 41-28 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Brady followed that performance with two interceptions and one touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship.
His team has picked him up in times of need. In the Super Bowl, the New England defense, not Brady, brought them to glory. But that is not even the real reason he should retire now. Brady should retire now so he can live out the Hollywood ending so many dream of.
Over the past five or six seasons, the NFL has watched some of its legendary players call it quits after winning the Super Bowl.
Ray Lewis did it after the Ravens defeated the 49ers in Super Bowl 47. Peyton Manning hung up his pads and cleats after beating the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. Now is the time for Brady to join that group.
As the ultimate NFL champion, Brady deserves the fairytale ending so many seek.
