ATLANTA — "I hate Tom Brady because is so good."
"Tom Brady stole 20 years of my life."
"You're like, 'Dang it, can't you screw up once, a little bit?'"
If you root for an NFL team not from New England or Tampa Bay, you might have had similar thoughts at some point over the last two decades.
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"I'm a Bills fan," says Louis Paone, "and I act like a Bills fan: very passionate, very emotional. And I've probably said a number of curse words at Tom Brady."
"The main reason goes back to Super Bowl 51," says Jeanna Kelley, a Falcons fan and editor at The Falcoholic. "I'm petty enough to hold onto that one for a long time."
"It's painful," says Oscar Collazos, who roots for the Dolphins, "because he's not part of my team."
We reached out to fans of many NFL teams, and we found people who both can't stand Tom Brady and greatly respect what he's accomplished.
And what has he accomplished? More than any quarterback in NFL history:
- 21 NFL seasons
- 14 Pro Bowls
- 6 Super Bowl championships
- 4 Super Bowl MVPs
- 3 NFL MVPs
- And much, much more ...
All that success can bring about frustration, even when delivered tongue-in-cheek.
"He hasn't aged a bit since he was 25," said Giants fan Dov Wilker.
"The guy's 43 years old," said Bills Mafia founder Del Reid. "I'm 45, and I'm held together with bubble gum and duct tape."
"He keeps going to the Super Bowl," said Laurie Lattimore-Volkmann, editor at the Mile High Report. "He keeps staying in the league as old as he is: 75 or whatever it is."
“Somehow this is a grown adult man with a family and a demanding job, and he doesn’t drink coffee," mused Kelley. "I don’t get it. I do not get it.”
And yet... with all that frustration, annoyance, and heartbreak, comes respect.
"I think any self-respecting football fan has to respect what Tom Brady has done," Wilker said.
“I don’t even know if you can separate the hate from the respect, because part of the reason you hate him is because he’s so good," said Lattimore-Volkmann.
“This guy makes everyone better around him," said Collazos.
This past season has only added to Brady's legend. After 20 seasons, he left the Patriots and signed with Tampa Bay. Then he led the Bucs to the Super Bowl.
“When he left to Tampa, I was like, ‘Aw, he’s done,'" Collazos said.
“Through a pandemic, with no offseason, no preseason, he joins another team, and he persevered," Paone marveled. "Once again, he overcame it."
“Here he is, with an opportunity to win yet another Super Bowl … … unfortunately," said lifelong Jets fan Glenn Naughton.
It almost feels inevitable. Brady continues to thrive.
“You have to respect that," Reid said. "You don’t have to enjoy it, but you have to respect it.”