Ask Margaret
I know Tampa Bay Magazine does not usually do a
“Person of the Year” cover the way Time magazine
does, but if it did, do you think it should be
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback and
I agree with your choice of Tom Brady
for Tampa Bay Magazine’s “Person of the
Year.” He truly is a Tampa Bay area hero
in every way. Thomas Edward Patrick
Brady Jr. spent 20 seasons as a quarterback
for the New England Patriots before
we were fortunate enough to have
him join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in
2020. He was born in 1977 in San Mateo,
California, where he became a fan of
the 49ers and quarterback Joe Montana.
He played baseball and football in high
school and entered the Major League
Baseball draft in 1995, where he was
chosen by the Montreal Expos, but then
decided to play football at the University
of Michigan. In 2000, he led the school to
victory in the Orange Bowl.
by Margaret Word Burnside
local celebrity Tom Brady?
M.D., Oldsmar
In 2000 he was also the sixth round pick
in the NFL draft for the New England
Patriots. But it was not until the third game
of the 2001 season that the Patriots started
him when quarterback Drew Bledsoe was
injured. The season ended with an 11-5
record for the Patriots, then Brady led
them to the Super Bowl against the highly
134 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022
touted St. Louis Rams. After winning that
game, Brady was named the Super Bowl
MVP. During his first three seasons as a
starter, Brady had a 34-12 record, and
in 2004, his team returned to the Super
Bowl to defeat the Carolina Panthers,
thus earning him his second Super Bowl
MVP award. The next year, the Patriots
were at the Super Bowl again, narrowly
defeating the Philadelphia Eagles. In
the 2007 season, the Patriots won all
16 games under Brady’s leadership, the
first time any team had done so, which
earned him an NFL season MVP honor.
Yet his team lost the Super Bowl to the
New York Giants.
Brady missed nearly all the 2008 season
due to knee injury. Then in 2010 with a
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