Tom Brady’s NFL career can be summed up, in a slightly over simplified way, by one sentence: five Super Bowl victories. A consummate winner ever since he entered the league in 2000, Brady has time and time again shocked the world with his pure skill at the quarterback position. Arguably the greatest player in NFL history, Brady ended his first true season as a Super Bowl champion and Super Bowl MVP. His gamesmanship helped the Patriots defeat the “Greatest Show On Turf” St. Louis Rams team in Super Bowl XXXVI by the thinnest of margins, a 48-yard Adam Vinatieri game-winning field goal. More championships, and more accolades, followed for “Tom Terrific” and his merry band of Patriots, as the team claimed Super Bowl championships in 2003 and 2004. Brady, along with head coach Bill Belicheck, established a dynasty that still rules the NFL to this day.

     This handwritten note sheet recounts the Patriots 24-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX, the final game of the 2004 NFL season. The Eagles struck first, with LJ Smith grabbing a Donovan McNabb pass for a six yard touchdown. With just over a minute left in the first half, Brady delivered the equalizer, linking with David Givens on a four yard touchdown dump. Brady and the Pats came out strong in the second half, with linebacker-cum-tight end Mike Vrabel the surprise recipient of a goal line touchdown reception. The Eagles knotted the score at 14 all four minutes with three minutes left in the third period, with versatile running back Brian Westbrook skittering into the end zone on a ten yard reception from McNabb. At the beginning of the fourth, the Patriots notched the final touchdown of the game as veteran running back Corey Dillon plowed over the goal line to put the Patriots up a touchdown. An Adam Vinatieri field goal several minutes later iced the game, with Greg Lewis’ 30 yard touchdown grab putting the Eagles within three, but the score was too little, too late. The Patriots were the kings of the NFL for the third time in the millennium, led by the indomitable Brady and Super Bowl XXXIX MVP Deion Branch.

     On this 8 ½ x 11 inch sheet, Brady wrote down the result of each offensive play the Patriots ran and what offensive protection he calls out at the line of scrimmage. Each play is described in three columns, one for down and distance, one column for the play, and a final denoting the defensive front trotted out by Philadelphia defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. Each of the 12 New England drives, with the exception of the final kneel down as time expired, is noted on this sheet. Thick blue and green lines separate each drive on the handwritten sheet. Brady meticulously wrote his notes on this sheet in blue pen. At the top of the sheet, below the three hole punches, Brady wrote the date, “Feb. 2005”, and his opponent, “Eagles”, in blue marker.

     This handwritten page is in good condition, although there is a small water stain on the lower left corner and a smaller stain that near the top that slightly impinges upon the “Feb. 2005” inscription. There appears to be a small blood stain on the right side of the page, on both the front and back sides. This would be consistent given that Brady did have a cut on his right wrist that corresponds where he would have filled out lines 61 and 62. This sheet comes with a LOA from JSA (Z56060).

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