29 SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR 2021of his peers are beyond their prime. Roger Federer (40),
Serena Williams (40), Albert Pujols (41), Tiger Woods (45).
Titans all, but not acclaimed for their athletic achieve-
ments in 2021.
Then there is Brady. Still pretty good at it warrants a
15-yard penalty for f lagrant understatement. He contin-
ues to discharge his duties with his customary, clinical
excellence. He still throws with precision and maneuvers
deftly in the pocket. Maybe more than ever, he main-
tains command of himself, and by extension his team,
projecting comfort, evincing poise when it matters most.
And he is still winning.
Brady started the year by piloting his new team, the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, to five straight wins, one to end
the 2020 regular season and four in the playoffs. The
culmination came on Feb. 7, when Brady started his 10th
Super Bowl. He walked away with his seventh ring and
was named Super Bowl MVP for the fifth time, leaving
his heel print on yet another NFL season.
Early in the offseason Brady f lew to Los Angeles and
“cleaned up” (his phrase) his left knee. In
this season, his 22nd, he has turned in some
of the most brilliant shifts of his career. At
this writing Brady leads the league in touch-
down passes (30), the unprecedented 600th
of his career coming in October, and the
Bucs lead the league in scoring (31.5 points
per game). His team is 8–3, and Brady is
among the favorites to be named MVP. And
he has already, officially, taken this honor:
Tom Brady is the 2021 Sports Illustr ated
Sportsperson of the Year.
Brady, this year, is the recipient of the
68th annual SOTY. He also—mind the gap—
won the honor in its 52nd year. That was for
his excellence in 2005, a time when cars ran
only on gasoline, squarely in the f lip-phone
era. How long ago was this? In the SI article
celebrating Brady there is a reference to his
posing once while holding a goat. And it’s
describing a bizarre photo shoot—not nod-
ding to the GOAT, the honorific that now, of
course, accompanies most mentions of Brady.
Titled the ultimate teammate, the
story praises Brady for his work ethic (“You
can see his innate ability to carry the logic
of practice to the conclusion of a game”) and
his commitment to incremental improvement
(“the grinding work of constructing football
excellence that pays off in the public perfor-
mance”). Brady, then in his 20s, speaks cau-
tiously but describes his passion for football:
“I love it so. Just running out there in front
of 70,000 people.” Also, his sheepishness
about standing out: “I don’t need to be the
showstopper, the entertainer. I’d much rather
people assume I’m one of the guys.”
Here, in 2021, Brady’s coach, Bruce Arians,
takes inventory of his quarterback, reeling
off a string of superlatives but landing on
a familiar turn of phrase: “He is the ulti-
mate team player.” To a man, the Buccaneers
describe Brady being “down to earth.”2 0
2 1SIM
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UT
Y (^) (
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