Tom Brady made his seventh Super Bowl title look familiar, despite moving south to a new team and conference during a pandemic.
Brady threw two touchdown passes to old friend Rob Gronkowski and one to good pal Antonio Brown, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City 31-9 on their home field in Super Bowl 55 on Sunday.
The “GOAT” earned his fifth Super Bowl MVP award and extended his Super Bowl titles’ record in his 10th appearance, his first without Patriots coach Bill Belichick. The 43-year-old Brady broke his own mark for oldest player to win a Super Bowl and joins Hall of Famer Peyton Manning as the only quarterbacks to win one with multiple franchises.
The Buccaneers (15-5) won their second NFL title and first in 18 years while becoming the first team to play the big game at home, capping an unusual and challenging season played through the novel coronavirus. They won three road games as a wild-card team to reach the Super Bowl, and joined the NHL’s Lightning as a 2020 season champion. The Rays also went to the World Series but lost to the Dodgers.
Tampa’s victory prevented Mahomes and the Chiefs (16-3) from becoming the first repeat champions since Brady’s Patriots did it in 2003-04.
Before, during and after the game, throngs of mostly maskless fans took to the streets and packed sports bars across Tampa.
So much for the mayor’s order requiring masks at Super Bowl parties.
Throngs of mostly maskless fans took to the streets and packed sports bars across Tampa as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the hometown championship.
Social distancing was abandoned in the streets and sports bars as fans celebrated their team’s 31-9 win, with many ignoring an executive order signed by Tampa Mayor Jane Castor requiring face coverings at Super Bowl festivities.
Sunday’s game marks the end of the NFL season. The league completed its 269-game season on time without any cancellations, a remarkable accomplishment that required nearly 1 million COVID-19 tests for players and team personnel.
The Canadian Press
