THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Two more weeks of Tom Brady. Of course
Are you really, really, really tired of Tom Brady?
Hey…
Too bad.
The Luckiest Man in Football History will be back in the Super Bowl in a couple of weeks.
Of course.
This will be Tommy Terrific’s 33rd appearance in the NFL’s showcase event, and he’ll be attempting to win for the 25th time.
The last couple dozen Super Bowls have been played in Brady’s living room, and when he finally broke down and began competing with a cane to stay upright, well…
The league named his wife Gisele Bundchen as head of officiating — just to make sure those crucial calls keep going the right way.
Yeah, yeah.
I’m exaggerating, but only by a little.
Brady bumbled his way into his 10th Super Bowl with Tampa Bay’s sloppy 31-26 victory over Green Bay on Sunday, and…
Although the NFL has played 54 of these Roman numeral classics dating back to 1967, naturally it would be Brady who becomes the first quarterback ever to play in his home stadium.
I HATE to say that the 43-year-old Brady just keeps finding great news with his fortune cookies, but how many QBs win a conference title game after throwing interceptions on three straight second-half drives?
And when he needed to complete just one pass to keep a drive going in the last two minutes, Tommy unleashed a wild throw that almost missed the entire stadium.
Ah, but an officiating crew that hadn’t called any pass defense penalties all day — despite wholesale muggings on both sides — came up with the timely pass interference flag on Brady’s air ball, thus clinching the victory.
You couldn’t make up this stuff.
One huge reason that the Bucs survived was that Green Bay’s own Hall of Fame quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, was hounded mercilessly by the Tampa Bay defensive line.
See, the Packers were missing All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari, who mangled his knee and won’t be back until next year.
The Bucs won’t have that same luxury against the defending champion Chiefs, who dismissed Buffalo 38-24 to win the AFC again.
Oh, wait…
Yes, they will.
Kansas City’s own Pro Bowl left tackle, Eric Fisher, tore his Achilles tendon in the final minutes of Sunday’s win over the Bills.
That was right after the Chiefs’ super rookie defensive back, L’Darius Sneed, banged his head and was ruled out with a concussion.
Fisher definitely won’t be around to bother the Bucs, and who knows?
Sneed may be missing, too — leaving a big hole in the secondary for Brady to exploit.
Would we be surprised?
NO ONE is claiming that Tommy hasn’t been a hell of a player, or that he isn’t striking a blow for aging athletes by competing well into his 40s.
But aren’t you tired of the guy?
He’s been annoying for so long that he makes my teeth hurt — like the Kardashians in shoulder pads.
I’m not even going to pretend neutrality in the Super Bowl.
I’d love it if Patrick Mahomes just does a number on the Bucs, although I’m braced for another batch of critical penalty calls to help Brady hoist another trophy.
Does the NFL actually want him to sit on some awesome throne until he’s 50, you think?
That late flag against Green Bay was truly suspicious. It was interference, for sure, but a few Packer receivers nearly had their arms pulled out of the sockets on earlier plays — and there wasn’t a single call against Tampa Bay.
The only difference I could see was Brady.
Tommy is just destined to lead another victory parade.
It’s a league rule.
Let’s see, do I have time to buy a Chiefs jersey before the Super Bowl?
Also, I’m wondering…
How many interceptions can Brady throw and still win?
It’s probably in the double digits.
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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. “Moments, Memories and Madness,” his reminiscences from several decades as a sports journalist, runs each Sunday.
Steve also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball which is published each Tuesday.