The Nation Is Counting Down The Days Until Super Bowl Sunday

The Super Bowl media crush began Monday night in Atlanta, and it won’t let up through the week. The event is bigger than it has ever been and way more skewed for immediate television consumption. No more waiting for tomorrow to hear what your favorite players had to say.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady went through a much less involved media process when he appeared in his first Super Bowl 17 years ago, also against the Rams (then based in St. Louis, now back in Los Angeles). Brady will play in his ninth Super Bowl on Sunday and he has won five, three times being selected MVP.

The Super Bowl still stands out, and each one remains the pinnacle of the season. Yet at 41, Brady has said he will continue to play, and that makes the Patriots a threat year after year to be in the big show. It doesn’t get old.

“It’s definitely not every other game, but in many ways it’s better than ever,” Brady said Monday night.

This is his third straight Super Bowl, with a huge comeback win in overtime against the Atlanta Falcons two years back and a stunning loss last year to the Philadelphia Eagles in his rearview mirror. The Rams, with a third-year quarterback in Jared Goff and a 33-year-old head coach in Sean McVay, lack the experience in this atmosphere that Brady and so many of his teammates have.

Brady has talked about this year’s Patriots not being respected, about them being disliked. Bits of the commentary rankled him this season as the Patriots won a modest (for them) 11 games, but here they are in the Super Bowl again.

“For the most part I ignore the noise,” Brady said, “but sometimes something trickles in.”

On Sunday, Brady will surely ignore the noise. A record sixth Super Bowl title is at stake.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman