Tom Brady was the most successful quarterback to ever lead a Super Bowl team, finishing with a career record of 7-3. Among his many incredible wins, none was bigger than the 28-3 comeback against the Falcons in 2017. Yet, it’s the three losses that continue to haunt him.
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On his weekly YouTube vlog, Brady detailed his experience at the Super Bowl in New Orleans — a game he called from the booth. And after the Eagles-Chiefs showdown wrapped up, the GOAT was seen doing shirtless sprint workouts by the water.
As Brady caught his breath between sprints, his videographer posed a poignant question: whether he did anything different after those three Super Bowl losses. A question that Patrick Mahomes must be facing right now.
“You just don’t sleep for a couple of days,” Brady shared. “You think it’s a nightmare, you really do. You’re like, ‘That didn’t happen. I woke up, it was a bad dream.’ And then it sinks in.”
It certainly must be tough to wake up the morning after a Super Bowl that you lost. It’s what most players work their entire lives towards, and for most, they come up short in the end. Brady was lucky enough to get 10 tries at winning it all. And he made the most of it. But he still thinks he could’ve done better.
Though Brady eventually moved past the sleepless nights, he admitted that the pain of those Super Bowl losses never truly went away. It wasn’t just about losing the games — it was the feeling that each time, he was on the better team, yet still came up short.
“And ultimately you get over it,” Brady revealed. “I mean, the acute pain. But then there’s that chronic scar tissue of like, making it that far and coming up short. Giants, Eagles, especially when you’re the better team. In all three Super Bowls we lost, we were the better team. Not that day, but, you know.”
While the losses to the Giants and Eagles in 2012 and 2018 may have stung, it’s the 2007 loss to the Giants that will undoubtedly live rent-free in Brady’s head forever. He had the chance to be immortalized as the quarterback of the greatest team to ever grace the turf. But they faltered at the very end to a gritty Giants team with a stellar defensive line. Brady even once said that had he won that game, he may have retired long before 44.
“Had we won that game — I don’t know, I’m not a big hypothetical guy — but maybe the desire is a little bit different if you’re looking at the silver lining… Maybe the desire to reach that point, maybe I would have been fulfilled.”
It’s a wild alternate universe to imagine. What if Brady won in 2007? Would he have retired with just six Super Bowls? Would he still be in a loving relationship with Gisele Bundchen? We’ll never know. Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin made sure of that. But it’s a fun thought experiment to have.
