HOUSTON — Tom Brady will be bringing home his fourth Super Bowl MVP trophy with him to New England but the Patriots quarterback said Monday that one of his teammates was equally deserving for the honor.
“I think James White deserves it,” Brady said Monday. “It would be nice for him.”
White finished with six carries for 29 yards and two touchdowns while also catching 14 passes for 110 yards and another touchdown. He scored both the Patriots’ first touchdown of the game with 2:06 remaining in the third quarter on a five-yard pass from Brady and dove into the end zone on a one-yard run to seal the Patriots’ 34-28 overtime victory.
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“I was telling coach earlier,” Brady said. “James White is like my oldest son. He just does everything right and you can never get mad at him. If he doesn’t make the play, he feels worse about it than you do. He’s just the best teammate.
“He’s an incredible player. He assumed that role in our offense when Dion [Lewis] got hurt last year. I’m so proud of him and everything he’s accomplished. I’ve seen him grow from being a rookie working his tail off to really becoming a big factor.
“That particular role in our offense, in the Kevin Faulk mold, in the Danny Woodhead mold, in the Shane Vereen mold and ultimately what Dion and James have done has been incredible for our offense. They’re tough match ups. They can run, catch and pass-protect, too.”
Even though a strong case can be made for White, Brady’s performance was record-setting and the 39-year-old’s second half performance was vintage Brady.
Brady set Super Bowl records for completions (43) and yards (466) in his seventh appearance which solidified not only his MVP candidacy but his legacy as the greatest quarterback to play the game and perhaps the greatest player in NFL history.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick staunchly defended his quarterback — that is a career 63.8 percent passer — against any criticism that he is successful and wins with intangibles rather than skills such as accuracy and arm-strength.
“I don’t know how we can not,” Belichick said, when asked if he thinks Brady doesn’t get enough credit for being an accurate, elite passer. “Just look at Tom’s career. His accuracy is tremendous. He’s been an accurate passer since his second year in the league.
“I thought he made a lot of improvement in the 2000 season with his throwing mechanics and throwing techniques. By the ’01 season, his accuracy was really good. I don’t think anyone throws the ball into more tight windows than Tom does consistently.
“With all due respect, I think it’s really inappropriate to suggest in Tom’s career that he has been anything but a great teammate, a great worker and has given us every single ounce of effort, blood sweat and tears that he has in him. To insinuate that this year was somehow different that this year he competed harder or did anything to a higher degree than he ever has in the past is insulting to the tremendous effort and leadership and competitiveness that he’s shown for the 17 years that I’ve coached him.
“It’s been like that every day, every week, every year that I’ve coached him. It doesn’t matter if it’s May, July or January. Tom Brady gives us his best every time that he steps onto the field.”
Matt Lombardo may be reached at MDLombardo@yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattLombardo975.
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