Tom Brady Super Bowl LI ‘28-3 Comeback' New England Patriots Game Used Football | Largest Super Bowl Comeback in NFL History

This Game Used Football comes from the scene of perhaps the greatest accomplishment in the historic career of the greatest football player to ever play, Tom Brady.

This football has been photomatched by Sports Investors Authentication and guaranteed by PSA/DNA in conjunction with the NFL to Super Bowl LI, when the New England Patriots faced off against the Atlanta Falcons. SIA matched the ball to a pass thrown by Tom Brady intended for Julian Edelman in the first half of the game.

Coming into the game, both teams were scorching hot. The Atlanta Falcons were 11-5 in the regular season and had not lost since December 4. Meanwhile the Patriots had been juggernauts that season. They entered the playoffs 14-2 and had not lost since November 13, and Tom Brady and the Patriots were now competing for their fifth Super Bowl win together. 

The season was historic for Brady. On December 8, he became the first quarterback in NFL history with 201 wins, while the week before he became only the fifth quarterback in NFL history to pass for 60,000 yards. With both of these milestones in hand, Brady looked to complete it with the ultimate prize: the Lombardi Trophy. The experts seemed to think Brady had it in hand: a poll of 100 at ESPN saw 72 pick New England and only 28 pick the Falcons.

To start, it seemed like the 28 had called it right. While the first quarter was scoreless, Atlanta caught fire in the second, scoring 21 straight points. The run was started by a LeGarrette Blount fumble and included a pick-six thrown by Brady before the Patriots managed a field goal in the closing seconds of the first half, with Atlanta due to get the ball back after half time. 

The second half did not start much better. Both teams started with three and outs, and the Falcons struck first with a touchdown at the 8:36 mark in the third, making the score 28-3. It seemed Atlanta’s night. No team had ever come back from such a deficit, and Brady and the Patriots only had a quarter and a half to do it. As the saying goes, there is a first time for everything.

Brady and the Patriots marched down the field on a 14-play drive that lasted over six minutes, giving them their first touchdown of the game on a five yard pass from Brady to James White. Stephen Gostowski missed the extra point, but the comeback was on.

The Patriots got the ball to start the fourth quarter, still down 28-9. Brady led the team on a drive from their own 13 yard line all the way to Atlanta’s 15 before Gostowski kicked a field goal: 28-12. 

The Patriots then forced a Matt Ryan fumble on Atlanta’s next possession, giving Brady great field position that he wasted no time taking advantage of. In less than three minutes, Brady led his team to the endzone again, this time completing the drive with a six-yard pass to Danny Amendola. After a two-point conversion by James White, the game was suddenly a one-possession game with almost six minutes left to play: 28-20.

On their next possession, Atlanta looked set to respond, with Matt Ryan throwing a 39-yard pass on only their second play. Two plays later, a 27 yard pass took Atlanta deep into New England territory and they looked set to seal the game. However, the Patriots defense pulled through, sacking Ryan for a loss of 12 yards before a penalty put the Falcons in a 3rd down position at the 45 yard line, needing 33 yards for the first down. After an incomplete pass, the Falcons punted. Brady and the Patriots had three and a half minutes to complete a miraculous comeback.

Brady and the Pats only needed two and a half. Starting from their own nine yardline, Brady threw five passes for more than 10 yards and brought his team to the one yardline with one minute left. James White punched the ball into the endzone, and then Brady completed a two-point conversion to Danny Amendola. The game was now tied: 28-28. The Falcons could not score in the final minute, so the game went to overtime. 

The Patriots got the ball first in overtime and would not give Atlanta a chance to win. Brady led the Patriots on a final drive, taking the Patriots to Atlanta’s 15 yardline before a passing interference call put them at Atlanta’s second. James White ran the final two yards, securing the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history. Brady finished with 466 yards and two touchdowns on a staggering 62 attempts. Brady had not let the Patriots quit, and he had been rewarded with his fifth Super Bowl win. Brady went on to win two more, however perhaps no other game in his historic career contributed more to his legacy than this one. This ball saw both Brady display both his brilliance and resilience in what might have been the greatest clutch performance in NFL history. 

Going Deeper - Tom Brady

Humble Beginnings and the Road to Greatness

There are only a few athletes who are near-universally accepted as the greatest in their sport: Tiger Woods, Muhammad Ali, Wayne Gretzky —and Tom Brady.

While most of them entered their respective sports as highly touted prospects, Brady’s journey began as an unassuming sixth-round pick of the New England Patriots in the 2000 NFL Draft.

During ESPN’s segment covering the 199th pick, resident draft expert Mel Kiper remarked, “[Brady] throws a very catchable ball.” Watching the segment today, there is little evidence Kiper realized he was talking about the player who threw perhaps the most catchable ball in the history of the sport. Brady holds the record for the most passing yards, completions, and touchdowns in NFL history.

Kiper would go on to talk about Brady’s perceived weaknesses: “The question is going to be mobility. He only runs a 5.25 forty [yard dash] and of course when you have those edge pass rushers, you have to avoid the initial defensive end, the initial pass rusher. Can he do that at the pro level?”

Brady’s seemingly pedestrian 2000 NFL Combine performance (his 40-yard dash was on par with some offensive lineman) and the now infamous photo of his less-than-strapping, unathletic physique, have become part of the lore for what many consider the best draft pick of all time. Every year come draft time, that photo of Brady gets circulated through social media as teams hope to strike gold again as the New England Patriots did in the year 2000.

Brady would acknowledge as much when he posted the picture to his personal Instagram years later, with the caption:

“19 years ago today the @patriots took a chance on the guy in this photo: Me (199) 😂. Thank you to EVERYONE who’s helped me to prove them right! PS: Did they stop taking these photos after mine?? 🤣🤣”

What followed, of course, is legend. Brady would go on to join the Patriots as their fourth-string quarterback and was, by no means, a lock to even make the team. By the following season however, he was thrust into a starting role after veteran starter Drew Bledsoe sustained an injury in week two. That opportunity was all Brady needed. He would lead the Patriots to a 20-17 victory in Super Bowl XXXVI that year and become the youngest Super Bowl MVP.

Brady would win five more Super Bowls with the New England Patriots as well as one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on his way to becoming the best quarterback, and arguably player, in the history of the sport. No NFL player has ever come close to being as good for as long. If you split Brady’s career into segments, you would find two, maybe even three, Hall of Fame resumes.

In 2024, Brady began the next chapter of his storied career in a new arena as the primary color commentator for FOX’s Sunday NFL broadcasts.