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The Super Bowls of the 20-teens were something else. Every game was close and Tom Brady seemed to be at the center of most of them.
In a recent episode of Tom Brady's new docuseries, "Man in the Arena," Super Bowl LI, one of the most thrilling games ever played, was the topic of discussion.
In the episode, Brady gave an unprecedented look into what he remembers about the day, including the moment he realized the Patriots could rebound from an impossible deficit.
Tom Brady on Super Bowl LI
At first, Brady was down in the dumps. When he looked at the 28-3 score, he was demoralized.
“28-3, man. I was like, ‘We need a lot of sh*t to go right now.’ 28-3, man. Coach said 21 points ain’t going to be enough to beat us. Twenty-eight points might be enough to beat us today."
Brady was ready to throw in the towel. For himself and his team, his goal had started to shift from winning the game to not getting embarrassed.
Brady's seen a lot of Super Bowls and he knew he didn't want to have a Manning-esque stain on his record as happened in Super Bowl 48.
In that game, Peyton Manning lost the Super Bowl to the Seattle Seahawks 43-8. He still hears jokes about it to this day.
"You’re not thinking about winning the game at that point. You’re thinking about, ‘How do we not embarrass ourselves at this point?’ It’s a different mentality. We’ve got to score, man. We’ve got to be proud of the fight.”
At that moment, the Patriots got their first big play of the game. The Patriots defense forced a turnover and a match was lit.
Like a freezing, marooned hiker, Brady felt a sense of relief at the sight of fire and felt his first inkling of hope.
“My man Hightower blasts Matt Ryan and knocks the ball. Alan Branch picks it up. And we’re like, ‘We’re in business."
Of course, the rest is history. The Patriots went on to roar back from a four-touchdown deficit to force overtime and eventually win the game.
Brady finished the day with one more Super Bowl ring and Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan finished the day with a regret that will follow him for the rest of his life.
Man in the Arena is available to watch on ESPN+.
