To the Editor:

Man, oh man! In the greatest Super Bowl comeback of all time, Captain America faced his one-time sidekick, the Falcon, in Houston and brought the crowds to their feet, for an entire quarter of the game. From early on in the game it looked as though The Patriots had an uphill battle and a downward trajectory as The Atlanta Falcons were the first to score a touchdown. Then another touchdown…and yet another, before Tom Brady and his team of proud Patriots could answer the call to war, musket in hand. And that answer was weak in the second quarter with a demoralizing field goal.

No team in Super Bowl history has ever been down by 14 points and lived to win in the fourth quarter; yet that is exactly what happened in overtime, yet another first for the championship NFL game. Those walls will be talking for many years to come, as they witnessed the impossible: a team overcoming a 25-point shortage, to win the game and again win the hearts of the New England fans.

Not that the Patriots ever lost the love of the New England fan. Even through the scandal of deflated footballs and a four-game suspension suffered by Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback to ever hold a football, Boston Strong took on a second meaning as Massachusetts and the rest of New England suffered right alongside of The Patriots as they longed for their beloved team captain to return to the fold.

As NFL commissioner Roger Goodell became more inflexible in the whole matter, Patriots fans became more resolved to support Tom Brady, Mr. Captain America, without flinching once...even when the case went to the judiciary. So you might say that a fourth of the country had something to prove in Texas. Well, prove it we did, as the wind finally shifted early in the fourth quarter, finally at our backs.

Tom Brady scored his thumb ring, as he gains a fifth – that’s right America, count’em, fifth Super Bowl ring – don’t look away. Greatness should be recognized, and there are no arguments in the results. That result was a 34-28 victory over The Atlanta Falcons. What sealed the deal? A one-yard touchdown run by James White in the first overtime possession. What started it all, after all seemed hopeless? A 91-yard touchdown drive led by the one and only legend, The Captain America of football, the bearer of the dynasty of the gridiron: Tom Brady. He undoubtedly holds the oracles of the game. A football in one hand and a lightning bolt in the other. His seventh Super Bowl appearance, and throwing for 466 yards, and 43 completions, both record breakers for a Super Bowl, but it would be hard to count the records broken by this titan of the game. Well, the titans clashed, and the hero flew to the win on the winged Pegasus, and once again the tastes of victory is carried on the wind to Boston, Massachusetts, carrying the Vince Lombardi Trophy…home!

Joseph Bucci

Providence