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“What are you willing to do and what are you willing to give up to be the best that you can be?”
– Tom Brady
41-year-old All-Pro Quarterback Tom Brady lead his New England Patriots down the field in frozen Arrowhead Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Conference Championships in overtime. Tom completed 3 long yardage third down passes on that final drive. He handed off the ball to his running back for the winning touchdown.
The Patriots won 37 to 31 over the number-one-seeded Chiefs. In the process Tom beat 23-year-old phenom Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, playing in his first AFC Championship. Patrick was playing for the chance to be in his first Super Bowl. I believe he’ll play in several Super Bowls in his career.
Patrick Mahomes is the generational talent, much like Aaron Rogers and John Elway each was. During the regular season, Patrick threw for over 5000 yards and 50 touchdowns. That was unheard of. At 23 years old, he’s in Tom Brady and Peyton Manning territory when they were younger, in their prime.
Patrick possesses the amazing rocket passing arm and is so precise. In the 3rd quarter of the AFC Championship, Patrick ran outside the passing pocket and completed a 54-yard pass to wide receiver Sammy Watkins. The Chiefs would score the eventual touchdown on that drive.
Coach Bill Belichick created the defensive and offensive scheme that Tom executed resulting in the Patriots’ 14 to 0 halftime lead. Patrick and the Chiefs scored 31 points in the second half, where he was responsible for scoring 24 points alone in the 4th quarter. Patrick is truly something special. Dude can ‘ball’.
With the Patriots’ win, Tom and Coach Bill Belichick are headed for their unprecedented 9th Super Bowl in Atlanta. Tom and Bill have won 5 Super Bowls together. Now they go for their 6th Super Bowl Championship. This cements the New England Patriots as NFL’s winningest dynasty. That’s so amazing in this era of free agency and salary caps.
In Tom’s 19 seasons as starting Patriots Quarterback, Tom has played in a record nine Super Bowls. After the 2018 regular season riddled with Patriots injuries and reported rift between Tom and Bill, the Patriots are headed to their third consecutive Super Bowl. That’s also a record.
Tom Brady is the GOAT, the “Greatest of All-Time” NFL Quarterback. No doubt looking at his playoff, Super Bowl, and passing records, Tom is by far the greatest Quarterback to have played this game. More than just being the GOAT, Tom like Patrick is something special. Besides being the GOAT, what I love most about Tom is that he’s a good man.
It goes without saying that I’m a big Tom Brady fan. His dedicated mastery to the game he loves so inspires me. I get it. Football for Tom is like Aikido for me. For Tom, he is never more self-expressed or more alive than when he is playing Football. For me doing Aikido gives me life, gives me purpose.
I’m pretty good at Aikido. I’m so unlike Tom, who is perhaps the greatest to ever do what he does. So there’s absolutely no comparison. Yet, although Tom is 15 years younger than me, we get that our time is finite, we have our own expiration dates.
Tom knows that he is the GOAT, for now. As Aikido Sensei, I know that I can’t continually maintain my level of intensity or physicality. We all get old. That’s life. At 56 years old, I’m aware of what I can and what I used to do. And the twain shall no longer meet.
So in the bigger picture, The Game becomes about passing on to the next generation of students and black belts. That is useful. More importantly, doing so is meaningful.
In Sunday morning Aikido practice, I trained with my dear friend Jackson. I along with Sensei Dan taught Jackson when he first started Aikido nearly 20 years ago. Jackson had it within him to be greater than he knew. Now we’re the same rank, Yondan – 4th-degree black belt. And Jackson is far greater than me. He is so good. Also having him be greater was the intention.
We were training in throwing each other from wrist grab attack. We worked on making each other greater. “It wasn’t about me.” We were doing Art. We were having fun. That was our love for the Art of Aikido and the brotherhood we shared.
Jackson will soon be a 5th-degree black belt. I probably will not. My time has passed. That’s okay. Because, I at least got to contribute to and create Jackson’s Art, his Greater Than.
After the AFC Championship game, ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington posted on Twitter that Tom Brady approached a security guard outside the Kansas City Chiefs locker room. Tom asked if he could speak with Patrick Mahomes. The guard escorted Tom to a room so he and Patrick could talk for about a minute or so.
It’s cool what was said remains private. Patrick Mahomes is the next generation’s GOAT. It’s so amazing that this generation’s GOAT Tom Brady acknowledged the man, who may become greater than him. Both men are special.
I would imagine that Tom told Patrick that he can become greater from this failure as he has done in the past. Patrick is dedicated to training to become greater than he knows. I would also imagine that he might have told Patrick to keep playing with his love for the game.
Tom and Patrick, two of the NFL’s greatest players, are creating each other’s Art. That’s beautiful. I might even call that love and respect.
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