There was no hug – only the odd handoff of a silver trophy and obligatory niceties.
Finally, the delicious moment everyone has been waiting for had arrived, that shining moment when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell would stride to the podium and present the Super Bowl MVP – the same man Goodell had punished for Deflategate – with the Pete Rozelle trophy.
This was a bona fide “get yer popcorn” event after Tom Brady was suspended four games by Goodell for his still-debated role in Deflategate. Goodell may have been overwhelmed by boos after the Patriots’ historic victory, but the two men were polite toward one another Monday, even if they weren’t completely buddy-buddy. Goodell pointed out that Brady and Coach Bill Belichick have “raised the bar” for performances and added that it was “a great honor for us, for me personally” to hand over the MVP trophy.
For his part, Brady said: “It’s an honor to have the commissioner present us with this trophy.”
And with that, Deflategate officially seems to be over.
There was to be no repeat of February 2015, when, with Deflategate only weeks old, the two men hugged it out as Brady accepted his fourth MVP trophy. The lone mention of the incident after the Super Bowl LI win came from Patriots team owner Robert Kraft, who brought up the issue when accepting the Super Bowl trophy Sunday night.
“Two years ago we won our fourth Super Bowl down in Arizona and I told our fans that was the sweetest one of all. But a lot has transpired during the last two years, and I don’t think that needs any explanation,” Kraft said. “But I want to say to our fans, our brilliant coaching staff our amazing players who were so spectacular: This is unequivocally the sweetest.”
Instead, on Monday, Brady focused on his mother and her 18-month cancer fight, on his missing jersey and, as always, on his teammates.
“She’s been though a lot, way harder than what I went through last night, what the team went through,” he said of his mother, Galynn. “All families go through challenging times personally. I was just happy to be able to celebrate.”
Given his druthers, Brady deferred to teammate James White, who, he said, deserved the MVP. “He’s like my oldest son,” he said. “When he doesn’t make a play, he feels worse about it than you do.”
Brady also addressed the fact that his jersey went missing in the locker room Sunday night. “That’s a nice piece of memorabilia,” he said, “so if it shows up on eBay somewhere someone let me know.”
He declined to say whether he had planned to give it to his mom, adding only: “Those are pretty special ones to keep, but what can you do? I’ll keep the ring and that’s good enough for me.”
After taking a few more questions, Brady posed for photos with the award, with Goodell nowhere near. As he stepped off the podium, he and Goodell, standing next to Belichick, shook hands.
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