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Super Bowl LI: 'Cool, calm and collected' – what makes New England Patriots' Tom Brady the MVP

Andrew Webster

Tom Brady trudged into the media conference exhausted, still wearing his football boots and with smudged black mascara daubed under his eyes.

The 39-year-old then tried to explain how history had just been made at NRG Stadium on Sunday night.

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The New England Patriots won their fifth Super Bowl over the Atlanta Falcons in Houston in extra-time, after an incredible comeback from 28-3 down.

For so much of this Super Bowl, history seemingly belonged to New England's opponents, the Atlanta Falcons.

They had led by 21 points in the second half. They had led 28-3 in the third. No side had blown that sort of lead in Super Bowl history – the record was 10 points – so it seemed like Atlanta were going to finally grasp the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the first time.

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"This game's over," moaned one Pats fan, walking out in the third quarter. "It's over."

Er, no it wasn't.

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The Patriots hauled their way back into the contest, off the back of a reborn Brady, who was named the Most Valuable Player of the match after his side ended up eventual 34-28 overtime winners.

In doing so, Brady became the most successful quarterback in Super Bowl history with a fifth championship, surpassing Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw.

Afterwards, he was asked to explain how he felt with his side eyeballing defeat for so much of the match.

"I wasn't thinking much," he said. "We just had to score. We scored the touchdown and then it was nine. Then we got a turnover? Did we get the turnover? There was a lot of shit going on tonight …"

Yes. A lot of shit went down.

There were many key moments but the one they'll be talking about for years in New England came from wide receiver Julian Edelman.

The Patriots had come screaming back into the contest when they scored a touchdown off the back of a strip sack by Donte Hightower on Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan. That was the turnover Brady was trying to remember.

With three minutes remaining in normal time, Brady came into his own.

The greatest, in any sport, share one special quality – time. They see the game in slow motion. They read it two plays ahead. The game is played according to their timetable, not others.

Watching Brady in the flesh, you realise how much time he has. Three minutes left may well have been an eternity.

He led a 91-yard drive downfield, and it included Edelman's freaky catch.

All season – including this game – Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones has had a mortgage on breathtaking catches.

Brady's pass across the middle was touched by Atlanta defender Robert Alford, who earlier in the game had intercepted a Brady pass and ran 77 yards, arms outstretched, to score the third touchdown of the game.

He had forced the ball to pop up. Atlanta defenders desperately clutched at it, trying to force the Super Bowl-winning turnover.

Somehow, it ended in Edelman's hands. The call on the field was that it was complete. The Falcons challenged and replay after replay on the big screen was shown.

The ball hadn't touched the ground. It had popped up off Alford's shin and Edelman had – somehow – caught it.

"I couldn't believe it," Brady recalled. "It was one of the greatest catches I've ever seen. We've been on the end of a few of those catches, and tonight we came up with it so it was pretty spectacular."

When told of Brady's remark, Edelman laughed: "I think that's because of our bromance."

"I couldn't believe he caught it," was all a stunned Alford could say.

Call it whatever you want, but without it the Patriots don't win.

Three plays later, James White scored on a one-yard run. Then Brady hit Patriots receiver Danny Amendola for the two-point conversion that tied the game.

In overtime, Brady lifted again. He had even more time, ending an eight-play, 75-yard drive with another touchdown for White.

"He was the same as he always is – cool, calm and collected," Amendola said afterwards of Brady. "He's the leader, the general, the best ever and that is the end of the story."

The win wasn't just Brady's fifth Super Bowl but also Bill Belichick's.

He hasn't cracked a smile for the past two weeks, but when he and Brady found themselves on the victory podium they laughed like schoolboys.

The reason was the deafening boos and jeers around the stadium for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who had doggedly pursued the pair over the Deflategate ball-tampering saga that saw Brady banned from the first four matches of this season.

When the trophy was handed over, team owner Robert Kraft barely looked at Goodell as he shook his hand.

"Two years ago we won our fourth Super Bowl down in Arizona and I told our fans that was the sweetest one of all. But a lot has transpired during the last two years, and I don't think that needs any explanation. But I want to say to our fans, our brilliant coaching staff, our amazing players who were so spectacular: This is unequivocally the sweetest."

Said Brady: "They're all different."

Was this one how he'd planned it?

"That's exactly how we hadn't planned it," he laughed.

He then called time on the questioning, declaring that he needed to have a shower. He had all the time in the world to let it sink in.

Andrew Webster travelled to Houston as a guest of ESPN.

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