The renaming of the NFL’s Super Bowl prize, the Vince Lombardi Trophy, has become a point of contention in football circles. Bill Belichick recently said, “Maybe they should name it the Brady Trophy, he won seven of them”. The coach owes his legendary status and rich resume to his New England Patriots QB, Tom Brady, for sure. And, it’s not a crazy idea either. But, giving it to Brady would also mean taking it away from Lombardi. And Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson is not cool with that.
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Johnson told Nightcap co-host Shannon Sharpe that Vince Lombardi is just an awesome name, and “the Vince Lombardi Trophy” kind of rolls off the tongue at this point. The “Brady Trophy” just doesn’t have the same “umph” to it, and the name “Brady” will never escape the “Brady Bunch” connections either, he added.
The ease of flow in the syllables is perhaps true. However, Brady’s record in the Super Bowl makes his case strong. He has won seven Super Bowls, more than any other player — or any NFL franchise, for that matter. Chad acknowledged that before presenting arguments for retaining Lombardi’s name on the trophy.
“I like it, for what Tom Brady’s been able to accomplish. Arguably, the greatest quarterback of all-time. But it just sounds—something about Vince Lombardi. Lombardi. As great as Brady was. “Vince Lombardi”. It fits much better. Maybe there can be another award,” said Johnson.
Most of the NFL world would concur with Johnson and Sharpe’s take. Lombardi’s name is already synonymous with the Super Bowl trophy — and rightfully so. He won five championships in seven years as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers in the 1960s. That included a run from 1965 to 1967 in which they won the historic final NFL Championship in 1965, followed by the first two Super Bowl titles in 1966 and 1967.
Lombardi was also a pioneer of the game on the offensive side. He deserves to have his name on the trophy.
Ochocinco then wondered whether there could be another trophy on which it would make more sense to engrave Brady’s name. Sharpe then came up with the perfect answer: the Super Bowl MVP award.
“I’ll tell you what you do, name the Super Bowl MVP trophy after him,” suggested Sharpe.
Ochocinco jumped in: “Bingo! Now that’s better.”
Sharpe built on his case for Brady, adding: “Tom. Politic! … He’s won seven Super Bowls, The only thing he hasn’t won is the Walter Payton Man of the Year. The Super Bowl MVP, should be named after Tom Brady. I got no qualms with that. None, whatsoever. As a matter of fact, I’m advocating.”
Ochocinco can’t wait to start a campaign for it: “We’re gonna push it!”
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That was a quick resolution to an issue that will have endless arguments in and around the NFL, possibly over many years. And, the alternative solution proposed by Sharpe allows Brady to receive recognition without taking anything away from Lombardi.
It wouldn’t be unprecedented to give the Super Bowl MVP trophy a name, either. The NBA recently gave names to all of its awards, including the NBA Finals MVP trophy, which they named after icon Bill Russell.
It might have made more sense to name it after Michael Jordan, who won the NBA Finals MVP a record six times. Instead, they named it after Black Jesus, which is fair enough as well. Both Russell and Jordan deserve recognition, and that’s the point we’re making here as well.
Only six players in the 58-year history of the Super Bowl have been named MVP more than once. Eli Manning, Bart Starr, and Terry Bradshaw won it twice, and Patrick Mahomes and Joe Montana both won it thrice. And, Tom Brady towers over the rest of them.
The Patriots legend earned five Super Bowl MVP trophies to go with his seven Super Bowl rings. Let’s also not forget that Brady also lost three other Super Bowls. That means he made it to the Big Game an insane 10 times during his 23-year career.
It’s not an exaggeration to say he quite literally owns the Super Bowl record book. He has attempted more passes, completed more passes, and thrown for more yards and passing TDs than anyone in the game’s history.
It would be only right to etch his name directly on one of the trophies associated with the Super Bowl. After all, he has already ingrained his name so deeply in its history.
