Super Bowl 55: What would seventh ring mean for Tom Brady?

Tom Brady is playing in his 10nth Super Bowl. He is already the winningest quarterback in Super Bowl history but he still has something left to prove.

Tom Brady is getting ready to play in his 10th career Super Bowl and first for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. He has more appearances than any other team besides his former franchise, the New England Patriots.

It seems unthinkable that he could be doing this at age 43. If Brady and the Buccaneers win on Sunday, he would have an unprecedented seventh championship ring.

For Brady, winning has always been everything. Although personal achievements mean something to him, he appreciates winning much more than he does putting up big numbers. Even though he has nothing left to prove at this point in his career, winning another championship would still check off boxes that were previously unseen.

Winning would prove he can do it without Bill Belichick

Throughout the New England Patriots dynasty run, fans and others always wondered who was most important to the team’s success. The question was always Bill Belichick or Tom Brady? This is something both individuals operated with over their heads for most of two decades.

Even though there is still time and years to debate this, Brady put forth his best argument in the debate this season. He took a team to the Super Bowl that had not even been in the playoffs since 2007. The Buccaneers last won a playoff game in 2002. All this while the Patriots missed the playoffs and looked less than even mediocre most of the season.

Winning the seventh ring on Sunday may not completely answer this question for some, but it would show Brady did not need Belichick on the sideline to win a championship. Yes, the Buccaneers have talent, but that talent was never able to come together to win at anything close to this level in the past. People may not believe Brady has won the war, but he has certainly won this battle.

A win means he cements his legacy against Patrick Mahomes

Tom Brady already has one big postseason win against Patrick Mahomes. This came in the 2019 AFC Championship. Brady and the Patriots were the underdog and beat Mahomes and the Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium.

If Brady can win Sunday, it will he has two major postseason wins against Mahomes. In both games, it would be fair to say Mahomes has had the better overall team. Their head to head career record is 2-2, but if Brady can take the number to 3-2, two of those three wins will far outweigh the two Mahomes has had.

The importance of this is that many people believe Mahomes might be the only current active quarterback that has any shot of reaching Brady’s Super Bowl appearances and win total. If a discussion of who is the better winner is ever coming into play, Brady would have the head to head matchup edge.

More importantly, he would have the two wins that matter the most. This means that even if these two teams made it back to the Super Bowl next year, he would still have the edge no matter what would happen.