Regardless of the outcome on Feb. 1 when the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks square off in Super Bowl XLIX, we will all witness history taking place. A win for either team on Super Bowl Sunday will result in something that sportswriters and fellow members of the media will be talking about for years to come.
If the New England Patriots come away victorious on Super Bowl Sunday, it will mark their fourth championship in franchise history. That would be good enough to place them tied with the Green Bay Packers for third all-time in Super Bowl wins.
From a coaching standpoint, Bill Belichick could accomplish a major career milestone with a win next Sunday. For Belichick, he can move into a first place tie with the late Pittsburg Steeler’s coaching legend Chuck Noll for most Super Bowl wins as a head coach.
Aside from a few bumps in the road, with “Spygate” in 2007 and the more recent “Deflategate,” Bill Belichick has established himself as one of the greatest coaches in NFL history during his 14-year tenure in New England. The frequently hooded football mastermind had only one losing season, coming in the year 2000, which was Belichick’s first year with the organization. Therefore, the result of Super Bowl XLIX will not be a make-or-break for his career, but a win certainly wouldn’t make Belichick’s résumé any less impressive.
For New England’s world-renowned quarterback Tom Brady, this Super Bowl could put him into a club with elite company. A win would place Brady into a three-way tie with NFL Hall of Fame quarterbacks Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana for most Super Bowl wins as a starting quarterback. If Brady plays well enough to earn Super Bowl MVP honors, he would again be rewriting the history books. A Super Bowl MVP award next Sunday would be the third of his career, which is another record he could share with Joe Montana.
While Brady has put together quite a career in New England, this game will no doubt have a huge impact on his legacy as one of the greatest quarterbacks. A win would give Brady an overall record of 4-2 in Super Bowls. A loss would drop Brady to 3-3 and cancel out his winning record in the big game. The fact that he’s been to these many Super Bowls is impressive, so this is a statistic that shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
As for the Seattle Seahawks, a victory would result in them being crowned NFL champions in back-to-back seasons. This is a feat that has not been accomplished in over ten years. “In a league featuring more parody than a “Weird Al” Yankovic album, the Seattle Seahawks managed to once again navigate their way through cutthroat NFC opponents. While teams such as the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers had huge offensive numbers this season, the Seahawks stayed true to the adage that “defense wins championships.”
Although both teams were successful enough to earn the number one overall seed in their division for the playoffs, this is not your typical Super Bowl matchup. Will Brady, Belichick and company mark their place on the list of all-time greats, or will the Seattle Seahawks accomplish something as a team that we may not see again for a long time? Both teams have a chance to leave us with a game filled with memories of a lifetime.
By Jacob Horton
Contact the writer: jhorton4@aum.edu
Photo Courtesy of nfl.com