Person of Interest: New England’s Tom Brady

Vitals

• Position: This generation’s Joe Cool
• Height: 6-4
• Weight: 225
• Age: 37
• Experience: 15th season

The storyline

Tom Brady has a cold. Just add that to the list of burdens the Patriots quarterback is dealing with in a week that started with his admission that his feelings were hurt by all the cheating accusations regarding deflated footballs.

It has become easy to laugh at Brady. After all, his wife is better looking than him (though not by much), she makes more money than him and as recently as Week 4 of this season, there were questions about whether Brady was cooked after a 41-14 loss in Kansas City. I mean, the man endorses UGG boots.

He remains one of the very best quarterbacks of his generation, though, and for all the yards that Peyton Manning racked up, Brady’s the one who has won three Super Bowls in the span of five years.

This will be his third crack at winning ring No. 4, though, which would match Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw for most by a quarterback. It’s more than that, though. The Patriots have not won a title in 10 years, or in other words, since New England’s offense became built around Brady and his passing.

The statement

Brady and Peyton Manning have been the league’s two best quarterbacks since 2000, and after defeating Manning in last year’s Super Bowl, the Seahawks now take a crack at Brady. Cornerback Richard Sherman was asked about the similarities between the two quarterbacks.

“Both are incredibly difficult to prepare for,” Sherman said, “and they both present different issues, but they’re also similar in the respect that they get the ball out fast and make great decisions.”

The difference is the variety that New England presents. The Patriots can dramatically change their approach, whether it’s not rushing the ball a single time in the second half of a divisional playoff against Baltimore to taking a run-heavy approach to the conference championship against Indianapolis.

This will only be the third time Brady has faced the Seahawks in his career. The Patriots beat Seattle in 2004, Brady making a big third-down throw to Bethel Johnson to clinch the 30-20 victory. Brady missed the 2008 game between the two teams because of a season-ending knee injury, and he started in Seattle in 2012, a game the Seahawks came back to win. Brady threw 58 passes that game. Not sure he’ll have that many opportunities this time.

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