Do you get the sense that Tom Brady’s play on Sunday in the wake of his grandmother’s unexpected death will do a little too much in defining him as a player?
Everyone looks at Brett Favre’s brilliant performance after his father’s death in 2003 as a potential example of what could happen on Sunday. Just because he has more rings than Favre, however, does not mean Brady is Brett Favre. Losing a grandparent, especially one to whom you were close, is not easy. The stories coming out now about how Peggy Brady was a celebrity in the nursing home during Super Bowls XXXVI and XXXVIII just make it that much more difficult, too, because an eager media with serious T.O.-fatigue will take this story and run with it.
Of course, it’s a no-lose situation for him. If he ends up playing poorly and the Pats lose, pundits will give him a pass because his grandmother died. If he has his best game ever and wins a third Super Bowl MVP trophy, though, then the Favre comparisons will rain down like frogs in Magnolia.
And they won’t be one bit fair to Favre, either, because Bridget Moynahan has neither a wedding ring nor breast cancer, but that’s an argument for another day…