Tom Brady's Drive To Win Super Bowl 50 Should Reach All-Time High
BOSTON (CBS) -- It goes without saying that Tom Brady is among the most fiercely competitive athletes of all time. It's cliche, sure, to refer to professional competitors as "competitive," but there is undoubtedly a certain, special level of edge that is necessary for an awkward, doughy sixth-round pick to become the greatest to ever play the most important position in all of sports.
So whether Super Bowl 50 were being played in Dallas, Madrid or on Mars, you can bet that Tom Brady's desire to get to that game and win it would be at 100 percent.
But let's say that despite having more than 200 career games under his belt, despite having been to six Super Bowls, despite having won four of them and being named MVP in three, despite having set touchdown records and going undefeated, despite doing just about everything there is to be done in the game of football, let's say that Brady has a chance to do something he's never done before.
He has the chance to go home.
In a quirk that can only be explained if you believe in sports fate, the kid from San Mateo has played in the home stadium of 31 NFL teams. The one team whose home he's never visited is the team he grew up idolizing -- the San Francisco 49ers.
And though they've moved out of Candlestick and down the 101 to Santa Clara, playing close to his hometown still has to hold special importance for Brady.
Likewise, playing in a Super Bowl remains the most important item on Brady's to-do list.
And this year, he has a chance to do both.
With Super Bowl 50 scheduled for Feb. 7, 2016 in Levi's Stadium, Brady can play his first game in the home of the 49ers, in front of his family (and in front of Joe Montana), in an effort to earn that fifth title that he clearly wants very, very badly.
No quarterback has ever won five Super Bowls. Do you think that might already be on Brady's mind?
Again, it wouldn't matter where Super Bowl 50 was located. Brady would want to be there no matter what. Think back to his pregame speech in February, which was picked up for NFL Films.
"It's about honor. It's about respect. We win this game, you're honored. Your kids are honored. Your families are honored."
Brady's thoughts about winning have clearly escalated to another level. It's not just about winning a game and riding in a parade. It's about legacy. It's about history.
So regardless, Brady wants to win every time he steps on the field. But when he shared on Facebook this week that he hoped to have his helmet with him for the Super Bowl 50 pregame ceremony honoring past MVPs, he left out the general goofiness that he normally infuses into his posts. He was serious.
"What an honor," he said, bringing up that H-word again. "Hope I have my helmet on for the on-field ceremony in SF!"
Not that there was any doubt, but Brady made it clear that his sights are already set on San Francisco.
And whether Brady really skipped the White House trip last week so that he could pump some iron, we'll likely never know. But we do know that Brady was the first person to show up to OTAs last week. We know that he's showing up to Fenway Park wearing a shirt stenciled with a massive 5 on the chest. We know that his childhood hero, Joe Montana, will be in the building for Super Bowl 50. We know that Brady wants very, very badly to win that fifth ring.
Of course, it's only April. The Patriots' 2015 roster is still unknown. A draft still awaits, as does training camp. With camp will come a some surprise cuts. The regular season will bring injuries and challenges that can't yet be named. Perhaps they'll get embarrassed in an early-season Monday night game again and we'll all start blathering about Brady's "decline." Saying today that Brady has a chance to win a fifth title in his first game ever in San Francisco may prove to be a complete waste of breath come December or January.
Yet it's still safe to say with supreme confidence at this moment that when it comes to winning next year's Super Bowl, nothing in his career has ever before been this important to Tom Brady.
Read more from Michael Hurley by clicking here. You can email him or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
