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      Don’t Be Fooled by the Playful, Merry-Making Travis Kelce

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Super Bowl 2021Chiefs Fans’ Generational DivideReconsidering Tom BradySuper Bowl Party TipsThe N.F.L.’s ‘First’ Women Want CompanyAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyDon’t Be Fooled by the Playful, Merry-Making Travis KelceThe Kansas City Chiefs tight end spent his formative football years playing quarterback. In his mind’s eye, he can both throw the ball and catch it.Tight end Travis Kelce plays his position with an understanding of the quarterback’s job.Credit…Doug Murray/Associated PressFeb. 5, 2021, 9:00 a.m. ETOff the field, Travis Kelce’s life is unscripted.Yes, sometimes it may seem as if the always playful Kelce is reading prepared lines so he can play the role of a goofy frat-party boy — the N.F.L.’s Midwestern version of Rob Gronkowski. But Kelce, the five-time All-Pro tight end for the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, insists that is not true.For example, after last season’s A.F.C. championship game, he stole the postgame show by leaning into a CBS microphone to shout: “You’ve got to fight, for your right … to … parrr-tay!”It was a line that might have appeared in character, delivered right on cue.“Nah, it was all instincts,” Kelce said this week.Then, after the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, there was Kelce making a memorable appearance at the end of a celebratory parade through downtown Kansas City. Kelce, a bit wobbly and with a World Wrestling Entertainment championship belt thrown over his shoulder, blurted to the crowd: “I’m wearing about half the beers I’ve been trying to drink.”Fun-loving football players carving out a niche in the public consciousness is nothing new. But in Kelce’s case, there is a twist: His cavalier attitude when out of uniform belies a cunning, resourceful and almost scholarly approach to his work on the football field.The frat boy goes to every class and gets straight A’s. He stays on script.After the A.F.C. championship game last year, Kelce let Chiefs fans know they had to fight for their right to party.Credit…Jeff Roberson/Associated PressTake it from the modern tight end archetype. “Travis has transformed our position,” said Gronkowski, whose Tampa Bay Buccaneers will meet the Chiefs in the Super Bowl on Sunday. “Crafty, smart guy.”The defensive coaches who face the Chiefs know as much. They devise illusions in their coverages meant to hoodwink Kelce. Then the opponents line up against him and discover they have been duped.“He’s sneaky and he’s got a lot of tricks,” Kevin Ross, Tampa Bay’s cornerbacks coach, said. “And he uses them very well.”The Buccaneers’ defensive coordinator, Todd Bowles, who has been in the N.F.L. for two decades, noted that even when the perfect pass coverage has been called, Kelce immediately sniffs it out and already has prepared an ingenious counterattack.“You marvel at watching him play, because if there’s a big play to be had, somehow he finds a way to get open,” Bowles said.He added that while Kelce clearly spends many hours studying opponents, it is more important that he knows what to look for. “He’s savvy,” Bowles said, “probably one of the best I’ve seen.”The evolution of Kelce’s aptitude as a tight end, a position that calls for both blocking and receiving skills, goes back to his days as a high school quarterback in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.Kelce, who had yet to fill out his 6-foot-5 frame, chose to attend the University of Cincinnati because it was the rare place that would let him play quarterback and because his older brother, Jason, now a center with the Philadelphia Eagles, was a starter at Cincinnati. Travis remained a quarterback, albeit often one in the wildcat formation, for much of his time at Cincinnati, but tight end was clearly where he belonged, especially as his body matured. By his senior year, that was where he lined up, leading the team in receptions.Selected by Kansas City in the 2013 N.F.L. draft, Kelce was the fifth tight end taken that year, but the Chiefs coaches soon learned that his time spent in quarterback meeting rooms would be vital. “It gave me perspective of what’s going on with the quarterback, the head man on the field — the guy who’s got the keys to the car,” Kelce said this week. “It helped me go from just being an athletic guy running routes to being a playmaker accountable on every single play.“I tell young guys that if you want to be great, you have to be able to play that chess match with the defensive coordinator out there. You can’t be a one-trick pony.”Kelce’s advanced understanding of how to attack defenses, plus his adaptability, has allowed the Chiefs’ brain trust to move him all over the offensive formation and to run precise, but dicey, timing plays. One example: the underhand toss that Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw to Kelce that resulted in a crucial touchdown in the Chiefs’ A.F.C. championship game victory over Buffalo last month.Travis Kelce making a move against Buffalo Bills linebacker Matt Milano in the A.F.C. championship game.Credit…Jeff Roberson/Associated PressMahomes appreciates that Kelce still thinks like the quarterback he once was.“The quarterbacking in his history definitely gives him that understanding of how to run routes,” Mahomes said. “He’s able to read coverages on the move and knows how to get himself, and others, open. It’s what makes him so special.”Kelce and Mahomes have enriched their rich kinship off the field as well, going on couples vacations and double dates that include Kelce’s girlfriend, Kayla Nicole, and Mahomes’s fiancée, Brittany Matthews.This week, however, the two sparred a bit at the Super Bowl media gathering, after Mahomes was asked to choose animals that would best represent himself and Kelce. Mahomes said he would like to be a wolf. “Kind of run around with my pack and being able to be a leader,” he said.For Kelce, Mahomes said the animal would have to be “something funny,” then decided on a giraffe.“He’s kind of just out there, grazing around the field, trying to make something happen,” Mahomes said.Told of Mahomes’s choice, Kelce looked a little wounded but laughed.“He threw me to the wolves,” Kelce said. Then, perhaps recalling that Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill once said that Mahomes talked like Kermit the Frog, Kelce suggested a different animal for his quarterback.“He’s already got the voice of a frog,” Kelce said.A little repartee in the frat house.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Why the Chiefs Will Beat the Buccaneers: Super Bowl 2021 Prediction

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Super Bowl 2021Chiefs Fans’ Generational DivideReconsidering Tom BradySuper Bowl Party TipsThe N.F.L.’s ‘First’ Women Want CompanyAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storySuper Bowl LV Prediction: Why the Chiefs Will Beat the BuccaneersNo one has won more Super Bowls than Tom Brady, but in a high-scoring game, Patrick Mahomes has a slight advantage.In his four-year N.F.L. career, Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs is 38-8 in the regular season — including a 27-24 win over Tampa Bay in Week 12 of this season — and 6-1 in the postseason.Credit…Kim Klement/USA Today Sports, via ReutersFeb. 5, 2021, 12:01 a.m. ETAfter last season’s magical run, nearly everyone expected the Kansas City Chiefs to be back in the Super Bowl this year. An appearance by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, coming off a 7-9 season in 2019 but given new life by a 43-year-old quarterback, came as more of a surprise.Florida turned out to be a fountain of youth for Tom Brady, and his team’s late-season surge has continued into the postseason, setting up a clash of quarterbacks some people call the GOAT (Brady) and the Baby GOAT (Patrick Mahomes), as in “greatest of all time.”The quarterbacks did not get to the championship game on Sunday by themselves. Both teams finished in the N.F.L.’s top 10 in most points scored and fewest points allowed, and while this game may end up having a high score, there are likely to be big defensive plays along the way.Here is a look at how the game should play out.Kansas City Chiefs at Tampa Bay BuccaneersSunday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, CBS | Line: Chiefs -3 | Total: 56What to Expect:When Tampa Bay Has the BallWhen Kansas City Has the BallHow It Will Play OutWhen Tampa Bay Has the BallAfter a few years of making things work in New England with a mediocre group of wide receivers, Tom Brady is surrounded by talent at Tampa Bay.Credit…Doug Murray/Associated PressIt is not hard to figure out why Tom Brady wanted to play with the Buccaneers.After struggling to get anything going with a mediocre group of wide receivers in his last few seasons with New England, Brady saw limitless opportunities in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. But if he was going to roll the dice with a new team, Brady didn’t want to stop with two Pro Bowl wide receivers, so he persuaded his old pal Rob Gronkowski, a tight end, to come out of retirement as well.When Tampa Bay’s season began with inconsistency and injuries, Brady lobbied the team to add wide receiver Antonio Brown, vouching for him as someone whose productivity would outweigh his troubles.There were flashes of brilliance and moments of frustration for the first three-quarters of the season. But after a loss to Kansas City in Week 12, the Buccaneers came out of their Week 13 bye looking like a new team. Over the next four weeks, Tampa Bay was 4-0 and averaged 37 points a game.That barrage has kept up in the postseason, with the Buccaneers scoring at least 30 points in each of their three road wins. They have a chance on Sunday to become the first N.F.L. team to have four 30-point games in a single postseason.While Tampa Bay can run effectively behind Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette, the expectation on Sunday is for Brady to move the ball downfield with short and medium throws to his four elite pass catchers, relying on them to gain yardage after the catch.The Chiefs will counter with a pass rush spearheaded by defensive tackle Chris Jones and a secondary largely controlled by safety Tyrann Mathieu, a run stopper and takeaway machine. Bashaud Breeland, the Chiefs’ top defensive back in terms of pass coverage, will have his hands full trying to stop Evans, Godwin and Brown.Brady is likely to put up quite a few passing yards, but Kansas City has a bend-don’t-break defense. It may not be as intimidating as some units — Tampa Bay’s included — but it has allowed the 10th fewest points in the N.F.L. this season. So while a 300-yard game from Brady may be expected, a continuation of Tampa Bay’s 30-point streak, which is at seven games over all, is less likely.When Kansas City Has the BallTight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Tyreek Hill make sensational plays seem routine.Credit…Jack Dempsey/Associated PressMahomes isn’t fair. He uses speed and footwork to avoid sacks the way Aaron Rodgers does. He turns busted plays into huge runs the way Russell Wilson does, and he can zip an accurate pass to a receiver with a flick of the wrist the way Dan Marino used to. While it all plays out like a tightrope act, with Mahomes frequently drawing defenders in close before releasing the ball, he almost never panics, showing a precision in everything he does that belies the apparent improvisation.While it’s easy enough to explain his effectiveness by pointing to his 4,740 yards passing or his 38 touchdown passes this season, the two most significant statistics for Mahomes are probably his N.F.L.-best 1 percent interception rate and his 3.6 percent sack rate. You can let your eyes convince you that he is being reckless, but you would be emphatically wrong — as so many defenses have been.The Chiefs’ challenge was making sure they put players around Mahomes who could capitalize on his greatness, and they have two of the best in tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Kelce set a record for receiving yards by a tight end this season (1,416), and would probably have topped 1,500 had Kansas City not rested its starters in Week 17. Hill is a touchdown threat on every play, with his speed sometimes overshadowing his elusiveness, strength and ability to make difficult catches and break tackles.Speed is everywhere on Kansas City’s offense — Mahomes, Kelce and Hill have it, too — and the rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire added a threat to the running game that had been expected to be missing when Damien Williams opted out of the season.Considering Kansas City’s tendency to play its best when it is challenged most, this game seems to tilt in the Chiefs’ favor, with the biggest caveat being the team’s poor health on its offensive line. Kansas City is expected to be without its two starting tackles and multiple guards, leaving it short-handed against a Tampa Bay pass rush that has an extreme interior push from defensive tackles Vita Vea and Ndamukong Suh and elite edge rushing from Shaquil Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul.If Kansas City’s offensive line turns into a sieve — a possibility because it is essentially playing a backup at every spot — Mahomes will face a lot of pressure and his scrambling ability will be extremely tested. That, theoretically, could lead to a mistake or two on throws downfield — though relying on Mahomes to make mistakes is typically a fool’s errand.How It Will Play OutMahomes is in a place in his career where it is almost impossible to doubt him — something that should be familiar for Brady, who was once at the same peak with New England. It is easy to see the Buccaneers having a good day offensively, but even if they were to run up a significant lead, they should never feel safe, as the Chiefs have fallen behind by at least 9 points in four of their last five playoff games — including last year’s Super Bowl — and have won anyway.Mahomes has years of accomplishments ahead of him before his career can accurately be stacked up against Brady’s, but it seems like a safe bet that he will do something on Sunday that no quarterback has done since Brady: win back-to-back Super Bowls.Predicted Score: Chiefs 31, Buccaneers 26AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Super Bowl Sunday Changes: Face Masks, Empty Seats and Driveway Parties

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Super Bowl 2021Chiefs Fans’ Generational DivideReconsidering Tom BradySuper Bowl Party TipsThe N.F.L.’s ‘First’ Women Want CompanyAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storySuper Bowl Sunday Changes: Face Masks, Empty Seats and Driveway PartiesThe Super Bowl will once again feature the Chiefs, but almost every other part of the fan experience could be different.Dan Newby, owner of Crossroads Tours bus company, had an offer for Chiefs fans wanting to travel to Tampa, Fla., for the Super Bowl: For $9,000, a close group of travelers can get a bus that sleeps 12 — meaning no hotel costs in Tampa — and a driver.Credit…Chase Castor for The New York TimesAmaris Castillo and Feb. 4, 2021, 3:30 p.m. ETTAMPA, Fla. — One year ago, Dan Newby was on top of the world.Five buses from his company, Crossroad Tours, picked the Kansas City Chiefs up from the airport when they returned home from the Super Bowl as conquering heroes. Days later, those buses transported quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Coach Andy Reid and the Lombardi Trophy to Union Station in downtown Kansas City as part of a victory parade.The next month, as the coronavirus shut down almost all nonessential travel, the bottom fell out of Newby’s business. A packed schedule of trips for sports teams, church groups and schools was wiped clean.“Every bus we had was parked from March 13 to September 14,” Newby said.The Super Bowl is still the biggest event in American sports, and most fans will have only a few opportunities, if any (sorry Lions fans), to watch their team play in it, let alone attend in person. This Sunday the Super Bowl will once again feature the Chiefs, this time against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but Kansas City’s team will be about the only constant from last year.The most obvious change, for one of the most coveted tickets in sports, is that Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium will be only a third full. Although 7,500 of the 25,000 seats will be filled by vaccinated health care workers, attending for free as guests of the N.F.L. and presented with gifts of face masks and hand sanitizer as they enter, there are still plenty of fans buying tickets, selling tickets, scheming to attend or traveling to Tampa without a ticket just to soak up the atmosphere.Karen Ricardi, who works as a nurse manager at a hospital in Lutz, Fla., will be one of the lucky few after winning tickets through a drawing. A Massachusetts native who has lived in Florida for about 16 years, she considers herself a fan of both the Buccaneers and the New England Patriots — Tom Brady’s teams, present and past.“I never thought I’d ever go to a Super Bowl because the cost is so prohibitive,” she said. “It still feels surreal.”Jeremiah Coleman, a Chiefs fan who owns a car dealership in Wichita, Kan., will be there, too. He planned to fly to Tampa on Thursday evening.Fans of the Kansas City Chiefs strolled Tampa Riverwalk during lead-up events for the Super Bowl.Credit…Eve Edelheit for The New York TimesColeman said he thought about traveling to see his team in the Super Bowl last year, but chose to host a party for his friends instead. “I’ve had these friends some 20 or 30 years, and we’ve never got to watch the Super Bowl together,” he said. “So I said, ‘I don’t want to leave all them.’”This year, however, he plunked down $6,753 for a ticket, in part because his cousin, who was born and raised in Kansas City, now lives in Tampa. Earlier this season, he made the same trip, to watch the Chiefs play the Buccaneers in the same stadium on the weekend after Thanksgiving.Coleman’s cousin, Sara Carrasquillo, also bought a ticket, which she acknowledged was quite expensive. But since she lives in the Tampa area, she has no travel costs. “I just realized that I can always make the money back,” said Carrasquillo, who owns a waxing studio. “It’s not going to take me a whole lot of time to make it back, as if maybe I worked for someone.”Neither of the cousins seemed to have many health concerns about attending. Carrasquillo said she believed that the necessary precautions were being taken, and that because she has healthy eating habits she is in a “good position to fight off any virus.” Coleman said that he would wear a mask and wash his hands consistently, but that his mantra was to “be conscious but not scared.”Ultimately for Coleman, the allure of watching his favorite team in the Super Bowl overrode all other considerations. “On my deathbed, this will probably be one of the top five days I remember in my life, you know?” he said.Getting to see the Super Bowl in person may be tougher than ever. Chiefs fans hoping to attend the game could buy tickets through the N.F.L. or the team, or through companies that work with the league to sell packages that can include airfare, lodging, food and entertainment. Or they could buy up seats purchased by the dejected fans of teams who didn’t make it.Christian Mollon, a Buffalo Bills fan who now lives in Kansas City, paid almost $20,000, including fees, for two Super Bowl tickets before the A.F.C. championship game against the Chiefs. He had a hotel room reserved in Tampa, and was just waiting for the Bills to win. They did not.Christian Mollon, a Buffalo Bills fan who now lives in the Kansas City area, paid almost $20,000, including fees, for two Super Bowl tickets before the A.F.C. championship game against the Chiefs.Credit…Chase Castor for The New York TimesHe said that he got a number of nibbles for his tickets, but that while he tried to sell them at cost, most potential buyers tried to talk him down.What if nobody is willing to pay full cost? Well, his wife would be furious, Mollon joked last week, “but we’re taking a trip down to Tampa.”(That won’t be happening. Over the weekend he was able to unload the tickets for about $17,000, covering the ticket costs but not most of the fees he had paid.)For those traveling from Kansas City but unsure about flying, Newby — who said his bus business declined by 85 percent in 2020 — came up with a solution. He has been advertising his entertainer buses, the kind normally used for concert tours, on Craigslist. For $9,000, he said, a close group of travelers can get a bus that sleeps 12 — meaning no hotel costs in Tampa — and a driver.“You have to have 12 people in one family, or 12 people in a group of friends, a pod that has the money to go there,” said Newby, whose company sent 56-seat charter buses to the Super Bowl outside Miami last year. As of late last week, he had not found any takers.“It’s just hard,” Newby said. “People are going in two and threes, threes and fours, and they’re driving.”About the only consolation during a tough summer for Newby was the Chiefs giving him a Super Bowl ring in recognition of his years ferrying the team around.Credit…Chase Castor for The New York TimesThe vast majority of Chiefs fans face a different complication: What to do about a Super Bowl party? Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, has advised people not to invite friends and family over on Sunday, in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus. “Just lay low and cool it,” he said on Wednesday.Such messaging has been a boon for James Hansen, the owner of Easy Audio Rental in Olathe, Kan. Hansen’s company rents out projectors and other audiovisual equipment, and he said he expected to be sold out for the first time since 2015, when the Kansas City Royals were in the World Series.Rather than have everybody crowd around a television in the living room, he said, fans may try to play it safer — and still have a crowd — by setting up a projector on the front lawn or the driveway.“These Midwesterners don’t mind a little cold,” Hansen said. They had better not: The temperature there on Sunday is projected to top out at 30 degrees.Chiefs fans, however, are used to attending cold-weather games at Arrowhead Stadium. Hansen said his brother and father, who have season tickets, followed Chiefs games all season by setting up a television in the garage and watching from the driveway.Hansen said his family was no different from so many others these days. “They really just want to be together,” he said.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Will the Super Bowl Be Decided by Penalties?

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Super Bowl 2021Chiefs Fans’ Generational DivideReconsidering Tom BradyToned Down TV CommercialsLuring Online Sports BettorsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyOn FootballWill the Super Bowl Be Decided by Penalties?Statistics from the regular season indicate that the Buccaneers benefited more from officiating calls than the Chiefs did.Buccaneers opponents were charged with 24 pass interference calls in the regular season, the highest total since the statistic started being tracked in 1985. If pass interference were a person, it would be the Buccaneers’ sixth most productive receiver.Credit…Jason Behnken/Associated PressFeb. 4, 2021Updated 9:25 a.m. ETSuper Bowl LV could be decided by penalties. And if that happens, Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have a distinct, unsurprising and perhaps unfortunate (for the Kansas City Chiefs) advantage.Buccaneers’ opponents were charged with 24 pass interference penalties during the regular season, the highest total since Football Outsiders began tracking the statistic in 1985. The Buccaneers benefited from 395 yards on those infractions. If pass interference were a person, it would be the Buccaneers’ sixth most productive receiver, contributing more yardage to their passing game than tight end Cameron Brate.Now, suggesting that Brady gets reputation-based “superstar calls” would be as sacrilegious as insinuating that Michael Jordan got away with traveling now and then or that Alex Rodriguez benefited from a narrower strike zone than the average slugger’s. Perish the thought.A less sinister explanation of the Buccaneers’ pass interference record is that an experienced quarterback like Brady can spot defenders jostling his receivers and throw passes in their direction knowing he will get either a catch or a flag. In fact, the league-leading beneficiaries of pass interference penalties in recent seasons have indeed been wily (read: old) veterans — Philip Rivers in 2019 and 2017, Drew Brees in 2018.
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1.158c-8.054-.187-17.517-6.72-27.808-6.72C7.951 3.106 1.636 9.95 1.636 16.9c0 6.948 3.955 9.112 8.137 10.652v-.416A4.882 4.882 0 018.1 25.19a4.909 4.909 0 01-.46-2.528 6.085 6.085 0 012.053-4.15 6.028 6.028 0 014.366-1.488c8.656 0 22.59 7.26 31.246 7.26h.828V34.52l-8.055 7.074 8.055 7.26v14.938a30.039 30.039 0 01-10.353 1.727c-13.438 0-21.99-8.176-21.99-21.783a32.602 32.602 0 011.325-9.528l6.71-2.954v30.062l13.644-6.054v-30.79L15.364 33.48a22.095 22.095 0 014.34-7.47 21.979 21.979 0 016.862-5.22l-.104-.209C13.024 23.452 0 33.688 0 49.021 0 66.725 14.867 79 32.177 79 50.502 79 60.897 66.725 61 48.834h-.31z” fill=”%23E2E2E2″/%3E%3C/svg%3E’);background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center;}.css-1rpx5ln > :first-of-type{position:absolute !important;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;}.basic-card .css-1rpx5ln{width:50px;height:50px;padding:0;margin-right:8px;background-color:#f6f6f6;}.basic-card .css-1rpx5ln > :first-of-type{position:relative;}.exit-card .css-1rpx5ln img{border-radius:4px 4px 0 0;}.css-z54dpx{margin:0 6px 0 0;width:6px;height:6px;border-radius:50%;background-color:#ccc;-webkit-transition:background-color 0.2s ease;transition:background-color 0.2s ease;background-color:#333 !important;}.css-nw5im6{display:-webkit-inline-box;display:-webkit-inline-flex;display:-ms-inline-flexbox;display:inline-flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;white-space:nowrap;width:36px;height:36px;border-radius:50%;border:1px solid transparent;background-color:#f3f3f3;cursor:pointer;outline:none;left:0;}.css-nw5im6:after{content:”;display:inline-block;margin-left:2px;margin-bottom:1;width:8px;height:8px;line-height:0;border-top:2px solid #6288a5;border-right:2px solid #6288a5;border-color:#121212 !important;}.css-nw5im6:hover{background-color:#e2e2e2;}.css-nw5im6:focus{border:1px solid #ccc;}.css-nw5im6:focus:after{border-color:#666 !important;}.css-nw5im6:after{-webkit-transform:rotate(-135deg);-ms-transform:rotate(-135deg);transform:rotate(-135deg);}.css-nw5im6:after{border-color:#b3b3b3 !important;}Super Bowl LV by the NumbersBenjamin HoffmanReporting on the Super Bowl 🏈Super Bowl LV by the NumbersBenjamin HoffmanReporting on the Super Bowl 🏈Eve Edelheit for The New York TimesOn Sunday, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs take on Tom Brady and the Buccaneers in the 55th Super Bowl.Here are some interesting stats for the game from Sportradar, a leading data and technology company in sports →Super Bowl LV by the NumbersBenjamin HoffmanReporting on the Super Bowl 🏈AJ Mast for The New York TimesThe Chiefs dwarf the Bucs in Super Bowl experience. Kansas City’s active roster has 33 players with a combined 34 appearances. Tampa Bay has six players with 17 total Super Bowl trips — nine of which came from Brady.Super Bowl LV by the NumbersBenjamin HoffmanReporting on the Super Bowl 🏈Ben Solomon for The New York TimesThe Bucs are trying to become just the fifth team to win the Super Bowl a year after finishing with a sub-.500 record (7-9). The previous four were the 2017 Eagles (above), the 2001 Patriots, the 1999 Rams and the 1981 49ers.Super Bowl LV by the NumbersBenjamin HoffmanReporting on the Super Bowl 🏈Vincent Laforet/The New York TimesThe Chiefs hope to be the ninth team to win back-to-back Super Bowls — a feat last accomplished by Brady and the Patriots after the ’03 and ’04 seasons. This is the longest drought without repeat winners in the Super Bowl era. Super Bowl LV by the NumbersBenjamin HoffmanReporting on the Super Bowl 🏈Barton Silverman/The New York TimesThe Bucs are the fifth team seeded No. 5 or lower to reach the Super Bowl. The last three No. 5 seeds to reach the title game — a group that includes the 2010 Green Bay Packers (above) — have each posted upset victories.Super Bowl LV by the NumbersBenjamin HoffmanReporting on the Super Bowl 🏈Jeff Roberson/Associated PressThe Chiefs’ 38-24 victory over Buffalo in the A.F.C. championship game was their fourth straight playoff win in which they trailed by at least 9 points, matching the 2014-17 Patriots for the longest such postseason winning streak.Super Bowl LV by the NumbersBenjamin HoffmanReporting on the Super Bowl 🏈Morry Gash/Associated PressThe Bucs have scored at least 30 points in each of their last six games, including all three of their playoff games. They can become the first team in N.F.L. history with four 30-plus point games in a single postseason.Check out more Super Bowl coverage: The teams, the ads, the recipesWhat to Know About Covid-19 and the Super BowlMadonna? Harry Potter? Churchill? Tom Brady May Be Beyond CompareFeb. 2, 2021Item 1 of 8Swipe to continue reading →
      Over all in the regular season, the Buccaneers were charged with 11 fewer penalties for 300 fewer yards than their opponents, the largest net differential in the N.F.L. The Chiefs were closer to the other end of the spectrum: They committed eight more penalties than their opponents for 159 more yards, the sixth-worst net yardage differential in the league.The Chiefs committed 23 offensive holding penalties, the N.F.L.’s second-highest total during a regular season in which officials called the infraction the fewest times since at least 1998. The Chiefs committed 23 false starts, tied for the third-highest figure. Most troublingly for a team about to face Brady’s Untouchables, Chiefs defenders were flagged for 15 defensive pass interference penalties, the third-highest total in the N.F.L.The Chiefs also had an unfortunate pattern of having big plays called back because of offensive infractions. According to the N.F.L. Game Stats and Information System, the Chiefs had 310 offensive yards nullified by penalties, the second-highest figure in the league. A holding penalty negated a would-be touchdown in their Week 5 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, and several Chiefs victories were narrower than they should have been because apparent touchdowns or 20-yard gains turned into 10-yard losses.The Buccaneers had just 142 yards nullified by penalties. After all, only a fiend would throw a flag that might deny our beleaguered society an opportunity to cherish one of Brady’s last memorable moments, right?According to the N.F.L. Game Stats and Information System, the Chiefs had 310 offensive yards nullified by penalties, the second-highest figure in the league. Credit…Jamie Squire/Getty ImagesKidding aside, officials are generally too busy making split-second interpretations of the N.F.L.’s arcane rule book to keep track of whether the pass that tangled a defender with a receiver was thrown by a living legend or a mere mortal. Still, the Chiefs have earned a reputation as brilliant-but-scatterbrained students who lose points for forgetting to write their names atop their assignments, while Brady is so irreproachable that the teacher is more likely to believe him than the answer key.Whether or not there’s a teensy bit of unconscious bias at play, each team’s penalty tendencies could create the perception of one-sided officiating, which could then overshadow the Super Bowl itself.Spotty officiating has already become one of the major subplots of the 2020 postseason. The Buccaneers benefited from just one pass interference penalty in the playoffs, but it was a whopper: A fourth-quarter call on Green Bay Packers defender Kevin King against receiver Tyler Johnson in the N.F.C. championship game granted the Buccaneers a third-down conversion, allowing them to run out the clock. The call was appropriate — Johnson’s undershirt can clearly be seen stretching away from King’s grasp on replays — but officials in that game stopped just short of allowing defenders to take piggyback rides on receivers’ shoulders for the previous 58 minutes.In the divisional round, the Chiefs benefited from an uncalled helmet-to-helmet hit that turned a possible Cleveland Browns touchdown into a fumble for a touchback. The no-call just happened to favor the more popular and marketable team.The last thing the N.F.L. wants is a repeat of Super Bowl XL, in which the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks, 21-10, with the help of some famously dubious officiating, including a touchdown call for the Steelers after a run on which Ben Roethlisberger’s helmet (but no other part of his body, nor the football) crossed the plane of the goal line on a sneak. The call added to speculation that N.F.L. was eager to nudge the more popular team toward victory.The Buccaneers are, of course, hosting Super Bowl LV, where the 25,000 socially distanced fans in attendance will probably skew toward the home team. And while the Chiefs have no shortage of star power, a seventh Brady championship sure would make a compelling climax to this pandemic-stricken season.The N.F.L. does not fix its results, of course; if it did, the Jets would at least be competitive once in a while. The officials will by no means conspire to hand Super Bowl LV to Brady and the Buccaneers. But the season averages suggest that the Buccaneers could hold an edge of 40 to 50 yards on penalties, which would probably come in big chunks of pass interference calls and negated Chiefs touchdowns.Should that happen, the conspiracy theorists will have plenty to talk about after the game.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Super Bowl LV by the Numbers

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      Super Bowl LV by the NumbersBenjamin HoffmanReporting on the Super Bowl 🏈Eve Edelheit for The New York TimesOn Sunday, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs take on Tom Brady and the Buccaneers in the 55th Super Bowl.Here are some interesting stats for the game from Sportradar, a leading data and technology company in sports → More

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      Tampa Bay’s Pass Rush Would Like Your Attention

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Super Bowl 2021Chiefs Fans’ Generational DivideReconsidering Tom BradyToned Down TV CommercialsLuring Online Sports BettorsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyTampa Bay’s Pass Rush Would Like Your AttentionShaquil Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul and Ndamukong Suh found a home with the Buccaneers after being discarded elsewhere. On Sunday, their mission is clear: Get Patrick Mahomes.Shaquil Barrett of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had one sack and one quarterback hit in Tampa Bay’s Week 12 loss to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.Credit…Jason Behnken/Associated PressFeb. 4, 2021, 8:14 a.m. ETThey’re big. They’re fast. Sometimes they can seem a little mean. Each one has Super Bowl experience and, come Sunday, they just might be Tampa Bay’s best chance of stopping Patrick Mahomes from winning a second consecutive championship.But the most surprising thing when you watch Shaquil Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul and Ndamukong Suh dominate for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is the realization that each of them, at one point in their career, was deemed expendable.You would hardly guess it — particularly after watching them torment Aaron Rodgers throughout an upset of the Green Bay Packers in the N.F.C. championship game — but each of them also came to Tampa Bay with metaphorical hat in hand, looking for a fresh start.Suh, a five-time Pro Bowler, was three seasons into an enormous contract with the Miami Dolphins when he was released in 2018, and after helping the Los Angeles Rams make that season’s Super Bowl, Los Angeles made no attempt to re-sign him. Pierre-Paul, with a laundry list of big moments and scary injuries, was coming off an uneven 2017 season when the Giants, as part of a move to a 3-4 defense, decided he was a bad fit and traded him to the Buccaneers for a third-round pick. And Barrett, ever the understudy to stars like Von Miller in five seasons with the Denver Broncos, walked away from a team that never found a role for him.Over the past two seasons, those three players — along with linebacker Devin White and the mammoth defensive tackle Vita Vea — have powered the Buccaneers to an average of just under three sacks a game. Barrett, who had 14 sacks in five seasons with Denver, has 27.5 in two years with the Buccaneers. Pierre-Paul, who adjusted just fine to a role as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme, has 18 sacks in the last two seasons despite missing six games.In the Bucs’ win over Green Bay two weeks ago, Barrett and Pierre-Paul accounted for all five of Tampa Bay’s sacks.Ndamukong Suh’s impact in the N.F.C. championship game did not show up on the stat sheet, but he played a huge role in ruining Aaron Rodgers’s day.Credit…Jeff Haynes/Associated PressThe group has gone from being discarded by their old teams to becoming the savvy veteran leaders of a defense that is particularly young in the secondary. And beyond the group’s obvious talent on the field, Barrett, Pierre-Paul and Suh have also proved to be leaders by sharing their life experience with the team’s younger players.“Without question,” Suh said when asked if there were things to learn from past struggles. “The tough times leave a lasting impression of something you don’t ever want to revisit again.”For Pierre-Paul, those struggles have included back surgery, the loss of his right index finger in a fireworks accident in 2015, and a car accident in 2019 that left him with a fractured vertebra in his neck.Pierre-Paul recounted his various comebacks with some lighthearted banter. He said growing up with a blind father gave him an excellent role model for resiliency, and he chastised the voters for not putting him in the Pro Bowl in 2019 after he came back from a broken neck to record 8.5 sacks in 10 games.“With all the things that I’ve been through, I’m overachieving,” he said. “I’m letting everybody know that no matter what you go through, you can do whatever.”Coach Bruce Arians said Pierre-Paul’s obstacles had made him an ideal leader.“He plays with a heart that is as big as a lion and high, high energy,” Arians said. “Guys just love playing with him. He doesn’t speak a lot because he lets his play do the talking, but when he speaks, everybody listens.”Tom Brady, who lost to Pierre-Paul and the Giants in the Super Bowl after the 2011 season, said he liked being the star defender’s teammate rather than his opponent. And he agreed with Arians about Pierre-Paul’s leadership.“J.P.P. is absolutely like a ringleader in that group,” Brady said. “When he’s going, everyone is going.”The question now is if all of that life experience, and all of that talent, can translate into Tampa Bay’s front seven creating the disruptions necessary to slow down Mahomes.While he does not run the ball very often, Mahomes is evasive in the backfield, using his legs to create separation and his arm strength to make up for having moved outside of the pocket. He is rarely sacked, and his ability to throw under pressure negates any advantage of a blitz: To Mahomes, a blitz just means there is one fewer defender in coverage. So Tampa Bay’s best bet may be to go after him with a four-man rush, a point that was repeated several times by each of the defensive stars.“He’s just got it — he’s got it all,” Barrett said of Mahomes. “So we’re going to try to keep him in a pocket. That’s why the way we rush is perfect with me and J.P.P.”Helping matters is the Chiefs’ being without several offensive linemen. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, a starting guard, opted out of the season. Right tackle Mitchell Schwartz hasn’t played since Week 6, guard Kelechi Osemele hasn’t played since Week 5 and left tackle Eric Fisher tore his Achilles’ tendon in the A.F.C. championship game. Center Daniel Kilgore has missed practice all week; he is isolating away from the team after a close contact with a person infected with the coronavirus, but he is expected to be cleared to play on Sunday.Coach Bruce Arians praised Jason Pierre-Paul for his ability to play through significant injuries. “He is a rolling ball of energy every single day,” Arians said.Credit…Jason Behnken/Associated PressA few injuries — not a broken neck among them — did not draw much sympathy from Pierre-Paul.“I don’t care; it don’t matter,” Pierre-Paul said. “This is the freaking Super Bowl. I’m going to do what I need to do. That’s a ‘you’ problem. They need to figure that out.”For as confident as they are, and for as much opportunity as they have to influence the outcome of Sunday’s game, Tampa Bay’s star defenders took plenty of time to praise Mahomes as a worthy opponent. Barrett went as far as to wade in on the GOAT vs. Baby GOAT debate, in which some have suggested that Tom Brady should share his Greatest of All Time nickname with Mahomes.Barrett thinks Mahomes is well on his way to earning that distinction, but he argues that the Buccaneers defense, with a pass rush led by him, Pierre-Paul and Suh, can help slow down the passing of that torch. While Mahomes is hoping to collect a second Super Bowl ring, Brady is one win from his seventh.“We’ve just got to tell him he ain’t ready to be the big GOAT yet, because we still got Tom Brady,” Barrett said. “So we’ve got to step it up and make sure Tom Brady gets another one.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      These Women Were N.F.L. ‘Firsts.’ They’re Eager for Company.

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Super Bowl 2021Chiefs Fans’ Generational DivideReconsidering Tom BradyToned Down TV CommercialsLuring Online Sports BettorsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyThese Women Were N.F.L. ‘Firsts.’ They’re Eager for Company.Two women will coach the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in this year’s Super Bowl, a milestone in the N.F.L.’s gender diversity efforts. Women in football hope their presence quickly stops being noteworthy.Maral Javadifar, right, an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Lori Locust, a defensive-line assistant, will coach in Super Bowl LV. It will be the first time that two coaches who are women will work the title game.Credit…Julio Cortez/Associated PressGillian R. Brassil and Feb. 3, 2021Updated 4:56 p.m. ETThe football pioneers arrived quickly over the past year: the first woman to coach in a Super Bowl, the first woman chosen to officiate a Super Bowl, the first Black woman to be named a full-time coach in the N.F.L.They can’t wait to have a lot more company.“What is really going to excite me is when this is no longer aberrational or when this is no longer something that’s noteworthy,” said Amy Trask, who in 1997 became the Oakland Raiders’ chief executive and the first woman of that rank in the N.F.L. Few have followed in similar roles.The coaching ranks took much longer to welcome women — until 2015. Eight female coaches were on N.F.L. staffs this season, the first time there had ever be more than two women coaching simultaneously in the league, according to The Institute of Diversity and Ethics in Sport, which tracks hiring across a variety of roles in five major sports.Other professional sports had groundbreaking moments, as well, in the past year. The Miami Marlins hired Kim Ng as M.L.B.’s first female general manager and Becky Hammon became the first woman to serve as a head coach in the N.B.A. But the ascent of women to top sports jobs remains an aberration and not the norm, as it is for men to lead many women’s professional and college teams.Jen Welter, the first female to coach in the N.F.L., said that she initially turned down her first opportunity to coach a men’s team — in the Champions Indoor Football league — because she worried about feeling isolated.“I was a highly decorated women’s player — two gold medals, an eight-time Pro Bowler — also had a master’s degree in sports psychology and a Ph.D. in psychology, and my instinct was, ‘no,’ because there were no women,” Welter said recently in a telephone interview. “Representation matters.”Callie Brownson, the chief of staff for the Cleveland Browns, said players were unfazed when she had to fill in as coach of the tight ends for two games this season and the wide receivers for one, when the full-time coaches for those positions were out on paternity leave or placed on the Covid-19 reserve list.“I remember walking up to the tight ends at practice on Wednesday and saying, ‘Hey, just so you guys know, I got you guys this weekend, I got you on game day,’” she recalled in a phone interview. “And it didn’t faze them at all, like: ‘Cool, OK, great, looking forward to it, let’s roll.’ That was powerful to me as a woman.”But, Brownson said, she has encountered resistance elsewhere. She recalled that at least one job interview felt like “checking a box,” and said that she had heard insulting quips — including “It’s funny to hear a woman talk about routes” — from men inside and outside the game.Like Trask, Brownson said: “I look forward to the days where we stop talking about how ‘she’s the first this’ and we’ve accomplished all those things, and women can just naturally fit into these coaching roles, scouting roles and operational roles.”Trask, who left the Raiders in 2013 after nearly 30 years in various jobs with the franchise and now serves as an analyst for CBS, recalled only a few moments when people questioned her role because of her gender.Once, she said, a reporter called out to Gene Upshaw, a Hall of Fame offensive lineman, at the end of a long practice: “Hey Gene, what’s it like having a girl on the team?”Trask recalled that Upshaw, who became the longtime leader of the N.F.L. players’ union, spun around and replied: “She’s not a girl. She’s a Raider.”Al Davis, the Raiders’ former team owner who hired Trask, also hired Tom Flores, the league’s first minority head coach to win a Super Bowl, and Art Shell, the first African-American head coach in the N.F.L. since the 1920s.“This was someone who hired without regard to race, gender or any other individuality, which has no bearing on whether someone can do a job,” Trask said of Davis, who initially hired her as an intern in 1983, when the team was based in Los Angeles and she was a law student who cold-called the Raiders’ headquarters seeking a job. “And he was doing this decades and decades before this was discussed as a subject within the football world, the sports world and much of the world in general.”Mold-breaking employees seem to be concentrated in certain organizations, such as the Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who will face the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl on Sunday. The Bucs will have a two female coaches on the field — Lori Locust, a defensive line assistant, and Maral Javadifar, an assistant strength and conditioning coach — just a year after the San Francisco 49ers’ Katie Sowers became the first woman to coach in a Super Bowl. Also on Sunday, Sarah Thomas will become the first woman to officiate the title game.Buccaneers Coach Bruce Arians, who made history by hiring Welter as an intern for the Arizona Cardinals in 2015, also has the only staff in the N.F.L. on which the offensive and defensive coordinators are both Black.“We support each other unconditionally,” Locust said of the women coaching in the N.F.L. “We may talk a little bit of trash — just a little bit while we’re playing one another — but it never gets malicious.”Credit…Daniel Kucin Jr./Associated PressThe league itself has pushed a number of diversity initiatives aimed at getting women and people of color into coaching positions over the years, including the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship, which started in 1987, and the Women’s Careers in Football Forum, which began in 2017. Most of the N.F.L.’s female coaches were brought in through one of those programs.Some, like Jennifer King — recently promoted by the Washington Football Team to become the league’s first full-time Black female coach — have been supported financially by the Scott Pioli & Family Fund for Women Football Coaches and Scouts, named after the former longtime front office executive, and administered by the Women’s Sports Foundation.These pipelines have helped bring the handful of women coaching in the league together.“We support each other unconditionally,” said Locust of the Buccaneers. “We may talk a little bit of trash — just a little bit while we’re playing one another — but it never gets malicious.”Though the women hope their ranks keep expanding, the limited racial diversify in the league’s coaching ranks suggests a possibility of backsliding. The highest number of nonwhite N.F.L. head coaches at any given time has been eight — last reached in 2018, matching the current total of women with coaching jobs. Now, in a league in which about 70 percent of the players are Black, only three of the current head coaches are, and only two others meet the N.F.L.’s standard for diversity hiring. The N.F.L. did not respond to multiple interview requests for this article.Yet as women in the N.F.L. hope for the days when they are no longer groundbreakers, they appreciate the progress that this weekend represents. Thomas, the Super Bowl official, was part of the N.F.L.’s first pregame handshake involving two women: Her first game — a preseason matchup in 2015 — was also Welter’s debut with the Cardinals.“I always think about that handshake as basically like a deal or a promise,” Welter said recently, “that this is going to continue, that more women will have opportunities to have that handshake.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Madonna? Harry Potter? Churchill? Tom Brady May Be Beyond Compare

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Super Bowl 2021Conference ChampionshipsBrady is BackIs Tampa the New Titletown?The N.F.L. and Black CoachesAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyMadonna? Harry Potter? Churchill? Tom Brady May Be Beyond CompareTom Brady rose from obscurity to become a standard-bearing quarterback hero, jousting with many characters along the way. We asked experts in various fields if they could cite similar sagas through history.Scholars compared Tom Brady to a variety of figures, real and fictional: (clockwise from top left) Winston Churchill, Harry Potter, Pope Benedict and Bill Clinton.Credit…Stanley ChowFeb. 3, 2021, 7:00 a.m. ETThe arc of Tom Brady’s career — his rise to Super Bowl mainstay as quarterback of the New England Patriots and now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — reads as if it were a folk tale.An unwanted N.F.L. orphan out of college is consigned to a woebegone, frosty football hamlet. Something akin to a miracle — a near-death experience by a co-worker — vaults him from obscurity into his dominion’s brightest spotlight, where he slays a two-touchdown favorite to win the Super Bowl. Next, this one-time nobody wins two more Super Bowls.He has it all: fame, fortune, a goddess for a wife. But he is also controlled by a Svengali-like mentor (the Hoodie), who draws him into a secretive clan known for outlaw tactics. As its ringleader, Brady is demonized outside his kingdom, the fiefdom of Dunkin’, and is briefly banished by the princely overlord, Roger the Goodell of Park Avenue.Brady plots his revenge, leading a patriot army to three more championships, achieving deity-like status signified by mythic comparisons of him to a mountaintop goat. Alas, in time even Brady’s powers diminish and he appears ready to be dethroned. Then, in yet another twist, Brady spurns his crafty swami to launch a new crusade in a foreign land where Ponce de León once sought the fountain of youth. Imbuing a bunch of football wannabe-greats with Brady wizardry, he claims another kingdom, from which he plots utter sovereignty.Quite a story, right?Folk tales gain their popularity for being universally applicable. So we wondered, are there other fields in which a Tom Brady-like figure exists? Whose storied life has been comparable? In the worlds of literature, politics and business, who is their Tom Brady? In the Bible? Theater? Greek mythology? TV or music? Does Tom Brady have any analog?In a chat room created to discuss which fictional character might be an apt comparison to Brady, the first response typed was “Harry Potter.”Credit…Stanley ChowLike everything else related to Brady, opinions clashed. Imagine Alexander the Great in a sword fight with Madonna.For example, in a chat room created to discuss which fictional character, or historical figure, might be an apt comparison to Brady, the first response typed was “Harry Potter.”The second reply: “Voldemort,” the literary saga’s villain.OK.On second thought, a roll call of experts from myriad fields was consulted — with entertaining results.The filmmaker and author Gotham Chopra, who made Brady the subject of a 2018 documentary film and of a nine-part documentary series set to air later this year, suggested that Brady was two conflicting biblical figures, David and Goliath.“He’s the ultimate underdog who came out of nowhere,” Chopra said. “But with all the success, over time he turned into Goliath, which is sort of interesting.”Hunter R. Rawlings III, a classics scholar and the former president of the University of Iowa and Cornell University, said there was no perfect fit in history for every part of Brady’s life narrative, even in mythology, but he found a link to Alexander the Great.“He never lost a battle, though fighting against Greeks, Egyptians, Persians, Afghans, Indians, and countless others,” Rawlings wrote in an email.Rawlings also noted, for those who believe that Bill Belichick is pivotal to the Brady story, that Alexander’s childhood tutor was none other than Aristotle. Alexander was also occasionally despised.“Alex and Brady, it strikes me that there is never enough winning for such people,” Rawlings said, adding: “Those two are definitely G.O.A.T.’s, but somehow seem to spawn as many detractors as admirers.”David Maraniss, author of best-selling biographies of presidents and prominent athletic personalities, said he found elements of Brady in Winston Churchill.Credit…Stanley ChowDavid Bianculli, a television critic and professor of film and TV at Rowan University, cited the 1978 movie “Heaven Can Wait,” a fantasy-comedy that starred Warren Beatty as a resolute N.F.L. quarterback who overcomes numerous obstacles. Beatty’s character dies and comes back to life twice, which is undoubtedly the ultimate fourth-quarter rally.The resourceful, adaptable community of world leaders seemed a ripe sub-society to mine on the subject of Brady analogies. David Maraniss, author of best-selling biographies of presidents and prominent athletic personalities, said he found elements of Bill Clinton and Winston Churchill in Brady.“I mean in terms of latching onto a Machiavellian sort of master of the dark arts to help you,” Maraniss said, pointing out that Clinton had used the adviser Dick Morris “as his political manipulator to get where he wanted to go.”“There’s a little bit of Churchill there, too,” Maraniss added, “for coming back at an old age and being at his best again.”The Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author who frequently writes and comments on religious and spiritual topics, said the parts of Brady’s narrative with the most striking historical similarities were his career comebacks or revivals.“I do not, however, think he’s exactly Lazarus,” Martin said.Martin believes the most obvious comparison in the Bible is King David, who Martin noted led a “very complicated life and was clearly seen as someone who had fallen but still was a revered leader of the people.” King David conspired to kill Bathsheba’s husband, the soldier Uriah, by having him placed up front in battle and then abandoned to the enemy.“He basically has him assassinated, and people are obviously upset with that,” Martin said. “He is a person who’s not perfect but nonetheless beloved in his area. And his people knew his flaws better than anyone.”Martin, whose book “Learning to Pray” was published this week, also suggested Pope Francis as a possible parallel to Brady, because he did not ascend to the papacy until he was 76.“Pope Francis is not married to a supermodel,” Martin said. “So that’s where the comparison slips a bit.”The Rev. James Martin said Pope Francis, who ascended to the papacy at 76, was a possible parallel to Brady.Credit…Stanley ChowAfter warming up with David and Goliath comparisons, Chopra mentioned Muhammad Ali and LeBron James as cultural figures similar to Brady, and Madonna because she had persevered.“Madonna the artist today versus the Madonna when she was 19,” Chopra said. “Radically different and yet equally accomplished.”Chopra, who has remained friendly with Brady, also told a funny story of a recent walk with Brady on the Great Wall of China. Two women passed by, and one excitedly recognized the quarterback. The other woman did not understand why he was famous until her friend said: “He’s Gisele’s husband.”“So, he’s super grounded,” Chopra said, laughing.Literary fiction seemed to be an especially fertile place to find characters who resemble Brady.Heather Klemann, a lecturer at Yale University whose specialty is 18th century British novels, pointed out Sir Charles Grandison, a central figure in a famed mid-18th century novel that bore his name. Grandison faces trials and tribulations but does so without moral flaws or malicious intent.Perhaps proving that not much has changed in 270 years, Klemann recalled literary criticism of Grandison along these lines: “Annoyance that this guy is perfect, you know?”Finally, James Shapiro, a renowned Shakespeare scholar at Columbia University, said he could find no one like Brady among the thousand or so characters in Shakespeare’s plays, though there is a reference to a “base football player” in “King Lear.”Shapiro instead saw a distinct parallel in the centuries-old play “Doctor Faustus,” about a man who makes a deal with the devil, selling his soul in exchange for 24 years of having his heart’s wishes met. By Shapiro’s calculation, such a deal for Brady would date back to his days riding the bench at the University of Michigan.“Which kind of makes sense since that’s when things turned around for him, almost miraculously,” Shapiro wrote in an email. “It makes you wonder, no?”Such a deal could expire not too long after this weekend’s Super Bowl.“But,” Shapiro conceded, “that’s a Giants fan speaking.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More