It’s FINALLY almost here. Super Bowl XLVI. Pats vs Giants. Brady vs Eli. Hey, did you guys know this is a rematch of a Super Bowl from a few years ago? Don’t answer that. Hype? You betcha. Sure, I’m an NBA guy; but there was no way the resident douchebag, Masshole, Boston fan at 85percentsports wasn’t going to comment on this game in some manner. Duh.
As Mike W broke down this morning, there are legacies on the line Sunday.
Tom Brady is an all-time great. There is no debating that. He’s a future first ballot Hall-of-Famer. And he should be somewhere on every reasonable NFL fan’s top-5 Quarterbacks of all-time list already.
On the other hand, you have Eli Manning. The sibling who has always been upstaged by his numbers-machine, more fan-appealing, older brother (I forget his name). Even despite owning the exact same number of Super Bowl rings, Eli has always been number 2. And as irony would have it, with Eli now about to compete in his second Super Bowl, his story has again been somewhat upstaged by the uncertain future of his more-talented brother. But that’s a story for a different column.
Back to Tom and Eli. At stake:
If Eli wins again, it wasn’t a fluke. He wasn’t just the recipient of a dropped game-clinching, Asante Samuel interception. He wasn’t just the recipient of a man using his cranium to improbably catch a key third down reception just moments later. No, he would be certified: Elite.
If Brady wins, the debate changes. He’s not a top 5 QB all-time. He is in the discussion with Joe Montana for best of all-time. He defeats his only demon. And maybe more importantly, for his New England region fans, he avenges an unbearable loss to a New York team. I won’t insult the intelligence of my readers by explaining in-depth the Boston/New York rivalry. Let’s just say, it’s something we think about.
So we have a potential one-hit wonder looking to cement his face with the rest of the elites, against one of the elites trying to defeat his one true demon and cement his legacy forever as THE guy.
I said I was an NBA guy. And yes, we’ve seen this story before.
Just with different names, tweaked details, and a different city with a reversed role.
Kobe Bryant was once what Tom Brady is right now.
Enter the 2010 NBA Finals.
Like Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant already had close to a handful of rings that came almost immediately in his career. Tom has 3. Kobe had 4. Like Tom Brady, nobody would have questioned Kobe’s status as “elite” had he lost that Championship. But there was plenty to be gained by winning it.
Tom Brady could be in the greatest quarterback of all-time discussion (with Joe Montana). But he HAS to beat New York and avenge his Super Bowl loss to Eli Manning to do it. Kobe Bryant could have been in the greatest Laker ever discussion (with Magic Johnson). But he HAD to beat Boston and avenge his Finals loss the Celtics to do it.
Tom is Kobe circa 2010. Rape charges aside (yeah, we’re not letting that one go, Mr. Bryant), even the public perception of both players is similar. You either love Tom Brady or you hate him. You either love Kobe Bryant or you hate him. But you better not question the drive, work-ethic, and will to win of either.
Even the opponents have things in common. The 2010 Celtics snuck into the playoffs and really weren’t picked to advance to the Championship by anybody. Just like the Giants now. Both teams have young floor/field generals (Manning and Rondo) trying to cement their status as “elite.” And both teams are defensively fantastic. The Celtics had to knock off the MVP-led favorite on the road (LeBron’s Cleveland Cavaliers). And the Giants had to knock off the likely MVP-led favorite on the road (Aaron Rodgers’ Green Bay Packers).
And like the 2010 Celtics, this Giants team has 1 championship under the belt and they’re insanely close to number 2. Ah, the elusive second ring. After the Celtics beat the Lakers in 2008, Michael Jordan told Ray Allen, “That’s nice, but can you win it again.” You see, you can have immense talent (LeBron James), but at the end of the day, your status is almost always measured by your success in the postseason. You need the rings.
We all remember what happened in 2010. The grizzled vets and the “on the verge of elite” point guard in Boston just barely came up short. Kobe got ring number 5 and as a result is undoubtedly 1a or 1b on the Mount Rushmore of Los Angeles Lakers greats. The Celtics got one ring, not two, and will go down as a really good team. But they will not be mentioned with the all-time great teams. The Spurs in the 2000′s. The Lakers in the early 2000′s. The Celtics in the 1980′s. The Lakers in the 1980′s. The Celtics in the 1960′s. The Bulls in the 1990′s.
The late 2000′s Celtics aren’t there.
On Sunday, we’ll watch this story get retold. This time with new faces and a different city. Oh, and Boston has Kobe Bryant this time. Will the story get retold the same way? That’s anybody’s guess. I don’t know. I’m wicked freakin nervous, kid.
I do know one thing though; I just compared Tom Brady to Kobe Bryant. Now I need to go take a shower to wash the gross off me.