Tom Brady’s Super Bowl drought has ended.
The Patriots quarterback threw for 328 yards, four touchdowns, and two interceptions in New England’s 28-24 win over Seattle to earn his third Super Bowl MVP award.
“It’s been a long journey,” he said during the postgame ceremony on the field of University of Phoenix Stadium. “We’ve been at it for 15 years, and we’ve had a couple tough losses in this game. This one came down to the end, and this time we made the plays.”
Brady joins Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw as the only quarterbacks to win four Super Bowls. He is also the only quarterback to go 10 years between Super Bowl wins, and the only quarterback to throw four touchdowns to four different receivers in the championship game.
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“It’s incredible to experience this feeling once, and I’ve been fortunate to be on really great teams,” he said in his postgame news conference. “I’m very blessed.”
When rookie cornerback Malcolm Butler pulled down the interception to secure the victory, Brady was elated, jumping up and down on the sideline and throwing his hands in the air.
Brady took responsibility for a few “crappy plays,” including his two interceptions, one to Jeremy Lane and another to Bobby Wagner.
“It wasn’t the way we drew it up. Certainly throwing a couple picks didn’t help,” he said of being down 10 points to start the fourth quarter. “A lot of mental toughness. Our team has had it all year. We never doubted each other. That’s what it took. That was a great football team we beat.”
Linebacker Jonathan Casillas said Brady should be considered the greatest quarterback in league history.
“He’s a legend, man,” Casillas said. “Six appearances. Four rings. I mean, consistently he’s unbelievable, man. He does it all.”
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Brady deflected the questions about his legacy, turning the compliments back to his teammates.
“I never put myself in those discussions. That’s not how I think,” he said. “There’s so many great players that have been on so many great teams and we’ve had some great teams that haven’t won it.
“I think you got to just enjoy the moment.”
He cited the Patriots’ last two Super Bowl appearances, both losses to the New York Giants, saying it made this one sweeter.
“We’ve been on the other end of this twice now, and being ahead late and not being able to make the plays to win,” he said. “This time, we made the play to win, so it’s just awesome. What an experience. A lot mental toughness by our team.”
Brady set several Super Bowl records in the win, and extended a few of his own:
■ Most touchdown passes/career: 13 (passing Joe Montana)
■ Most passing yards/career: 1,605
■ Most completions/career: 164
■ Overcame largest second-half deficit (10 points)
‘We were down 10 and we just said, ‘Look we got to put one drive together to get us back in the game,’” Brady said. “We made the plays. We overcame a couple penalties, and made the plays to do it and got the ball back and then scored again. They had a great drive, had some phenomenal plays, but we made a great play in the end. These games, they’re tough. They go down to the end.”
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■ Most completions/game: 37
■ Most passing first downs/game: 21
“It was a tough day. A lot of energy. A lot of effort,” he said. “We just made enough plays to win.”
Follow Rachel G. Bowers on Twitter @RachelGBowers.