Tom Brady Pre-Wrote His MVP Acceptance Speech
A Patriots public relations staffer was spotted with an advance copy of what the quarterback plans to say if he wins the award.
Photo via AP/Matt Slocum
The NFL’s Most Valuable Player award won’t be announced until tomorrow, but don’t worry about Tom Brady losing out on valuable Super Bowl practice time to write an acceptance speech. He’s already prepared.
During a press event yesterday in Minneapolis, Grand Forks Herald reporter Brad Schlossman snapped a photo of a Patriots public relations staffer carrying a document titled “Brady acceptance speech.” There’s no mystery about the paper’s subject matter, as its first line clearly includes the phrase “[I am] … honored to be recognized as this year’s recipient of the Associated Press MVP Award.”
NFL MVP will be awarded this weekend, but someone was carrying Tom Brady’s acceptance speech in plain view of media during Pats presser today…. pic.twitter.com/Oxo2DUKSyJ
— Brad E. Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) February 2, 2018
It’s easy to chalk this up as an embarrassing accident, a faux-pas, a blunder, if you will. But let’s dig in for a moment, shall we? The Patriots are good at psyching out their opponents—just ask the Jets, whose tunnel was, courtesy of coach Bill Belichick, outfitted with thermometers during a particularly freezing game in December. According to Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller, the team uses “voodoo,” to get inside people’s heads and pull out the W. And the confidence required to pre-write—and then leak—an MVP award acceptance speech sends a clear message of superiority to the Eagles. Philly is also presumably aware that he has the chance to add to his stack of Super Bowl MVP awards, which currently numbers four, the most in NFL history.
Though pre-writing the acceptance speech can seem a bit premature, Brady is the heavy favorite and hardly the first person to get some words ready in advance. This would be his third MVP honor and put him in a four-way tie for second-most all-time, along with Jim Brown, Johnny Unitas, and Brett Favre. Brady’s old rival Peyton Manning leads the list with five MVP awards, but based on Brady’s consistency and unfettered access to the fountain of youth, he just might catch him.
