I’m a terrible football fan. About halfway through a game, I’m known to ask who the guys in the blue tights are. I cheer every good play by either team. But on Super Bowl Sunday, my husband and I almost always gather with friends and family to watch the event, sometimes for the game, sometimes for the ads, and always for the halftime show. I can still visualize Jennifer Lopez and Shakira in last year’s shake and strut in Miami. Just don’t ask me who played.
Super Bowl Sunday is also an anniversary. It marks a year to the day since our rescue Lab, Kumba, came to live with us, and 29 years since the Sunday I first revealed my pregnancy during Super Bowl XXVI. Our daughter was born that fall.
This year, we are following the social distancing guidelines that have kept us healthy for the past 11 months, no matter the tradition, just as the editors of The Palm Beach Post are begging us to do:
It’s never easy, remembering to tote masks and hand sanitizer everywhere we go. All of this, it seems, is magnified on weekends like this, when we think about what we should be doing. It’s even tougher when we see members of the Covidiot Caucus prancing around barefaced as if ignorance is an antiviral.
The Editors of The Palm Beach Post
We’ll be watching the game in our little bubble with Kumba as Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers take on Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs on the Buc’s home turf.
Although I know who Tom Brady is — in part because we lived in New England before retiring to Florida — I had to look up the sportscaster term GOAT: Brady is the NFL Greatest Of All Time. Still, even I know that Brady is more hated than loved despite his remarkable record — nobody likes the guy who dashes everyone else’s opportunities to win, and then there’s the deflated ball scandal. But, in leaving the Patriots and bringing the Bucs to the Super Bowl, Brady has become a little easier to like, even admire.
He is the NFL version of Benjamin Button, seemingly getting younger as he ages chronologically, or at least, slowing the aging process down in a way that defies belief.
Gene Frenette, Florida Times Union/USA Today Network
So, as we look at how we can stay the course during this pandemic, let’s ask WWTBD What Would Tom Brady Do? It comes down to fitness, family, and fun. Thank you to sports reporters Gene Frenette and Joe Schad for enlightening me.
Have Fitness Goals
Throughout Super Bowl week, the husband of a supermodel looks as energized and youthful as he did during any of his Patriot years. His secret goes beyond being physically fit. Brady’s will to prepare, beyond just practice and film study, remains as vociferous as ever. No joke, he actually said Thursday that he wants to focus on improving his “speed” in offseason training.
Gene Frenette, Florida Times Union/USA Today Network
Appreciate Family
The best part about winning is having the people that have helped you get there and supported you there with you to enjoy it. Some of the best memories I’ve had in my life are being with my kids right after the Super Bowl and celebrating with them.
Tom Brady, GOAT quarterback, as quoted by Palm Beach Post reporter Joe Schad
Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously
‘Papai não sabe de nada,’ which means ‘Daddy doesn’t know anything.’ I usually get that a lot in the house.
Tom Brady, about speaking Portuguese, his wife’s native language, as quote by Palm Beach Post reporter Joe Schad
This is the year to root for the Brady underdog GOAT against Kid Mahomes. Here”s Jim Gaffigan’s suggestion.
Enjoy your wings for few, folks!