ON FEB. 7, 2021, Tom Brady stood with his children beneath a shower of victory confetti. He had just won his seventh Super Bowl.
Three more than Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw, one more than his former New England Patriots bosses Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft.
In NFL lore, he now stood alone. Up in a private suite, his family looked down with many emotions. Nobody who'd ever played the game had won more, been more of a winner, and it felt to him and the people who loved him that he hadn't merely beaten the Kansas City Chiefs but also had beaten his old team, after it had doubted him and opened the door for him to leave.
Brady held his kids close. Watching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' celebration unfold below, his parents opened a bottle of champagne.