The final result of Super Bowl XXXVI is arguably one of the most significant wins in NFL history. It proved to be the beginning of a new era in professional football, one in which Tom Brady and the New England Patriots would reign supreme for the better part of the next two decades.
Advertisement
It also stands as the biggest betting upset in modern Super Bowl history, as the Patriots entered the contest as +14-point underdogs on the spread. If it weren’t for the New York Jets’ victory over the then-Baltimore Colts as +18-point underdogs at Super Bowl III back in 1969, it would officially be the greatest underdog title win in NFL history.
Back in 2002, everything seemed to be going against Brady, but nowadays, it seems as if his dynasty in New England was always inevitable. According to Clay Travis, however, that same narrative of an underdog needing just one win to transform itself into a dynasty can be found in the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump.
“When you look at that 2002 Super Bowl and you say, ‘Boy, that was just the first sign that this guy was built different.’ And over time, everybody came to see… that Brady was different… The 2016 election, a lot of people didn’t get it yet that Donald Trump was built different… Hillary Clinton, she’s Kurt Warner, she’s the Rams, she should never lose this election,” he said.
Trump’s initial campaign announcement in June of 2015 was viewed as nothing more than a potential publicity stunt. Much like the 2002 Patriots, he was perceived by both the media and his fellow candidates as the unlikeliest of threats.
Likewise, the inflated sense of confidence, which seemingly bordered on entitlement at times, that oozed from both the Los Angeles Rams and the Democratic party in their respective outings proved to be costly. Once it was all over, the “original sin of all of Russiagate,” according to Travis, was nothing more than a subsequent “disbelief in Donald Trump’s innate political gift.”
When it comes to Trump’s ongoing stint in the White House, Clayton suggested that the current administration is most akin to Brady’s final Super Bowl win with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Simply put, there’s now a sense of nostalgia that comes with the 47th President of the United States for several members of the nation.
“Think about where we are right now. I loved watching Tom Brady when he played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, because I knew we didn’t have a lot of time left with Tom Brady and I just wanted to celebrate his career. I feel that way about Trump right now. But the reason Russiagate happened, is because Democrats hadn’t seen yet that Trump was built different. I think he’s the best president since Raegan on the Republican side.”
In a past interview with Variety, Brady claimed that his relationship with the President has been “mischaracterized” by the media. The former New England Patriot stated that “I haven’t talked to him in a lot of years.” Nevertheless, both of them have become synonymous with what winning in America looks like.
For better or worse and for different reasons, both Trump and Brady are destined to be remembered as two of the most premiere American personas of this generation, as both have proven that anyone can win in the United States of America.
