A quarter-century ago, New England had suffered long stretches of losing seasons, no trophies, and certainly no Superbowl rings.

Then a college graduate was the Patriots' 199th pick and became a spare quarterback. When the team's regular quarterback was injured, then-22-year-old Tom Brady took the field. What followed put New England in the spotlight for two decades. Nine years of the two decades with New England ended with the Superbowl. Six rings! Number Seven came to the Bucs.

Fans knew when their famous quarterback was 42 years old, unknown to football players, but hoped he would play another year, even though he would turn 43. Tom Brady did decide to continue playing, but no longer as a Patriot.

It would have seemed impossible that Tom Brady would choose to move to Tampa Bay, Florida, unless one had lived through New England's winters. And then the Buccaneers lived the year they had only dreamed of.

There was no doubt that their Superbowl victory was ignited by their 43-year-old quarterback, still at the peak of his career, years beyond when others retired.

The entire team returned this season to play with the GOAT for his second year in the sun. They, and the rest of football fans, knew that even at 44, Tom Brady could take them to his eleventh Superbowl and hopefully eighth win.

For the first three quarters of their do-or-die game in this January's playoffs, they wondered what happened as the first three quarters put the L.A. Rams up 27-3. But everyone remembered a previous Superbowl when Tom Brady and team had scored just 3 points against the other team's 28 through the first three quarters. In the fourth quarter, Brady engineered a win!

This year's turnaround came in that fourth quarter, which began with a 27-3 score until the real Tom Brady stepped up to lead his team to a tie at 27-27 with just a minute left in regulation before overtime when a score could mean a win. The fans could have been heard in New England, let alone Tampa.

The rival Rams had one last chance to break the tie and kicked a field goal for 3 points in the last second of the game. WOW! No overtime! This year the Buccaneers would not advance with their 44-year-old, who had said he would like to play until 45, which he will be on August 3. Tom's other wish was to go out after an eighth Superbowl win.

We may not see the likes of this man ever again, or we may credit him with showing today's quarterbacks what is possible. I grew up in New England and went off to college when I was 17, before Tom Brady was born. Because I have many relatives in the Boston area, I was introduced to Brady fever in time to see most of his Patriot games and then followed his Tampa Bay saga religiously.

Along with enjoying cheering for a winning quarterback (to say the least), I find this superstar quarterback to be an all-around good man, husband, father, son, friend. From the young boy who hoisted a sign in the stands saying Tom Brady saved his life, to taking a troubled athlete into his home for safe harbor, to being a good sport and then some, I see Tom Brady as the kind of person we would all welcome to live next door. Here is a superstar who sets an example of how to be a super person, and that is even more important than being the best quarterback. Tom Brady gives additional meaning to being the Greatest of All Time.