PIERS MORGAN: Gaga hates Trump, Tom Brady counts him as a friend but last night these two awesome superstars helped America come together and show the world just how great it can be

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 I feared the worst about this year’s Super Bowl.

The atmosphere in America right now is so toxic, this seemed the perfect global stage for all the bitter, seething division caused by the election to erupt in one huge, unedifying orgy of hatred.

There were three main reasons for my concern.

First, the New England Patriots are known as Donald Trump’s team due to his long-time friendships with star quarter-back Tom Brady, coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft. Brady, especially, has been roundly and viciously vilified for his association with Trump.

Second, Lady Gaga was booked to be the half-time act; a woman who has made no secret of her hatred for President Trump – she protested outside Trump Tower the day after he won - and who, like her heroine Madonna, loves to shock-and-be-awful.

Third, many Super Bowl advertisers inexplicably love to mix political preaching with their shameless selling.

I worried about the Super Bowl. As we approached half time, the tension reached fever pitch, the Patriots were down 21-3 and Brady was having a personal nightmare

All week, the Super Bowl talk has thus been about politics not football.

How badly would Brady be abused?

How nasty would Gaga be about Trump?

Which commercials would pour flames on the Donald-bashing fire?

As we approached half time, the tension reached fever pitch.

The Patriots were being stuffed out of sight 21-3 by the rampant Falcons, and Brady was having a personal nightmare.

He’d been sacked, intercepted, strangled and stunned into supine impotence, and social media was ablaze with glee at his ignominious humiliation.

The Twitter hashtag #SadBrady was trending worldwide.

Mocking memes of him looking miserable on and off the field were being posted from Tipperary to Timbuktu.

Brady was a laughing stock, the Trump connection merely exacerbating the outpouring of ecstatic vitriol pouring on his head.

The cameras panned to him sitting, head down, on the sideline, alone in his miserable anger and frustration.

‘Sit down, LOSER!’ they chortled.

‘That’s what happens when you suck up to a racist, sexist pig!’ they taunted.

‘Don’t worry Tom, you’re still winning the Electoral College!’ they shrieked.

Then came the words guaranteed to tip things over the already precariously balanced edge: ‘And now….Lady Gaga!’

My mind went back to last year’s Super Bowl when Beyonce went all Malcolm X on us by marching around with 30 dancers in Black Panther berets. How could Hillary Clinton loving Gaga not resist making a similar statement?

Then came the words guaranteed to tip things over the already precariously balanced edge: ‘And now….Lady Gaga!’

I sat back on my couch, and waited for the inevitable Trump-bashing diatribe to pour from her mouth.

My mind went back to last year’s Super Bowl when Beyonce suddenly went all Malcolm X on us by marching around with 30 dancers in Black Panther berets in a needlessly race-charged performance.

How could Gaga not resist making a similar statement?

Well, resist it she did.

Oh sure, Gaga sang ‘This Land is Your Land’ and ‘Born This Way’, both of which contain subliminal messages about patriotism and LBGTQ rights.

And she hugged a black woman in the crowd as she sang the words ‘Why don’t you stay?’ – which said all she needed to say about the President’s controversial immigration ban.

But not a single word of direct anti-Trump sentiment came from her lips throughout her performance.

To my astonishment, she kept her Poker Face, just as she had promised to do.

‘I want people that watch the half-time show to feel the greatness of the USA,’ Gaga said on Friday. ‘Saying anything divisive would only make things worse. And that’s just not what I want for my country. I believe in a passion for inclusion, in the spirit of equality and love, compassion and kindness.’

I didn’t believe her, but she was good to her word.

But Gaga was sensational - her voice the show thrilling, dynamic and she simply nailed it

Gaga also put on a sensational performance. Her voice was as magnificently powerful and entertaining as her sense of theater. The show was fun, thrilling, dynamic and in the words of every talent show judge in the world, she ‘absolutely nailed it’.

Had she taunted Trump, that would be what we are all talking about today. Just as the headlines from the Women’s March were about Madonna’s ‘I’ve thought of blowing up the White House’ speech.

But instead of pontificating about politics, Gaga strutted her magical musical stuff, and as a result, we’re talking about a spectacular example of American talent at its very best.

There was, though, one even finer example of that which we are talking about even more.

As the players ran out for the second half, Tom Brady was met with a cascade of boos both from sections of the crowd and from millions of people watching at home.

The pressure on his gilded shoulders was huge, and for many lesser sportsmen would have been overwhelming.

But great champions are made from a different DNA to mere mortals.

As the legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi put it: ‘It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get back up.’

Brady performed in the second half like a man possessed.

The second half brought out Brady as a man possessed, who led a rally like none before

By the time he’d finished, he’d smashed myriad records.

His 466 yards passing were most ever in a Super Bowl.

He completed most passes from most attempts - 43 from 62.

He was the first to ever play in seven Super Bowls, the first quarter-back to win five Super Bowl rings and the first player to be voted MVP four times.

At the end, Tom Brady stood triumphant as indisputably the greatest American football player in history.

He kissed his supermodel wife Gisele, hugged his cancer-stricken mother, carried his jubilant kids and tearfully embraced his coach and owner.

And in that moment, America rose as one to salute this superlative athlete.

He rose from the ashes, the greatest football player. He kissed his supermodel wife, hugged his cancer-stricken mother, carried his jubilant kids and tearfully embraced his coach and owner

Not because he played so well. Brady’s been a world-class footballer for years.

Nor because he’s a humble, modest role model who – with the exception of the unfortunate Inflated Balls-gate episode – conducts himself in a manner that does him and his sport great credit.

No, it was because Brady summonsed his inner American to rise from the ashes of inevitable crushing defeat to achieve gloriously unexpected victory.

He was able to do it because of his incredible dedication, resilience, hard graft, professionalism, thick skin and never-say-die spirit.

I watched Twitter turn on a dime as Brady went from villain to hero.

Suddenly, politics didn’t matter, and even Trump didn’t matter.

‘The Super Bowl long ago became more than just a football game,’ said CBS newsman Bob Schieffer. ‘It’s part of our culture like turkey at Thanksgiving and lights at Christmas.’

Yes, it is.

Against all the odds, Tom Brady and Lady Gaga came together to remind everyone that at its heart America remains a great country with great people of often wondrous talent

And yesterday, against all the odds, Tom Brady and Lady Gaga came together to remind everyone that at its heart America remains a great country with great people of often wondrous talent.

Even the politically-motivated commercials, from Budweiser and Lumber’s sympathetic immigration stories to AirBnb’s pointed #weaccept statement and Audi’s equal pay for women message, didn’t grate as much as usual because amid all the hysterical toxicity sweeping the country, it seemed right and appropriate to remind everyone –including President Trump - of America’s core values of tolerance, fairness and inclusion.

I thought this Super Bowl would take a wrecking ball to American unity, but it did the opposite.

I’ve never been happier to be proven wrong.