When thinking of a villain, most will think of a manic figure who lurks in the shadows bent on destruction and devastation. In sports, the term is slightly broader.
It’s reserved for both athletes and coaches who have created devastation and heartbreak for a fan base – think of Eli Manning for the New England Patriots. It could also be someone whose mere presence and personality makes their skin stand on end – think Floyd Mayweather (boxing skills aside) for most healthy people.
Some athletes are born to be the villain. Some push it on them. For others, their achievements and greatness transform them into the villain, with that role serving as a newly discovered motivation to desecrate their opponents.
When it comes to Tom Brady, his villainy is multi-layered. A sixth-round draft pick who, in my opinion, became the best quarterback in football history is a Hollywood story that everyone would love if they put a Disney logo on it.
Or maybe that movie ends with Brady leading the Patriots to victory in Super Bowl XXXVI. The 20 years that followed saw Brady slowly transform from a story of feeling good to something completely different.
A Bay boy who grew up idolizing Joe Montana, only to eventually join the 49ers legend at the top of the all-time quarterback hierarchy, is inspiring. Perhaps, in theory, you would think that those in the Bay Area would praise Brady’s success.
It hasn’t ripped out their hearts over and over like it did with the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills. The 49ers weren’t at the other end of a Deflategate scandal that had absolutely no impact in a conference championship game. Those were the Indianapolis Colts.
Brady didn’t erase a 28-3 Super Bowl lead to stun the 49ers in a meme-filled existence they can’t escape. Those were the Atlanta Falcons.
There is no direct correlation to the annoyance and dislike that many in Northern California seem to have for Brady. There’s no seminal moment for 49ers fans like Raiders fans have with the “Tuck Rule” game.
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With Brady, it has been villainy for 1,000 cuts. The NFL’s history of poverty to wealth aged rapidly. The victories accumulated. The arrogance of the Patriots and their fans grew. He feasted below the surface of all the other opposition fan bases as they took root not only for his team to win, but also for Brady to suffer a humiliating defeat. A dream that never seemed to come true. Strike one.
After Brady and the Patriots ripped the Falcons’ soul from their chests in Super Bowl LI, the boy who grew up idolizing Montana suddenly impersonated him in the eyes of many (mine included). I will be the first to say that GOAT discussions are among the most useless exercises we experience in sports. People have their opinions, and no statistics, anecdotes or records are going to change that.
Like the American political landscape, most people have dug their trenches so deep that they are sure to stay in them until a murderous asteroid vaporizes us all as we debate yard records and Super Bowl victories.
But with the Montana legacy under assault for the first time in two decades, 49ers fans began rallying together in defense of their GOAT. The idol of an era of supremacy from the past is not to be overturned and replaced. Brady then came to epitomize an assault on the golden age of the 49ers’ greatness.
It became a constant reminder that the NFL had overlooked the 49ers as they tried to rediscover their glory, while searching for more than a decade for a quarterback to replace Steve Young.
Seeing a Bay Area native who grew up bleeding red and gold won title after title and challenged Montana as the GOAT, when Giovanni Carmazzi was selected instead of him, it was a blunt force trauma that has been nearly impossible to recover whether they admit it or not.
Dislike has subsided a bit in recent years, but then the offseason came. Brady, a free agent, was interested in coming to the 49ers to replace Jimmy Garoppolo and do what his former protégé failed to do: lead the 49ers to a Super Bowl title.
Brady, according to reports of the time, had forced the Patriots to trade Garoppolo in 2017, not wanting to have to look over his shoulder at the apparent heir when his career ended. The 49ers were the beneficiaries of Brady’s thin skin, acquiring a quarterback that led them to a Super Bowl bunk for pennies on the dollar.
Garoppolo became the type of the 49ers, the franchise quarterback they’d wanted to find since Young left (Colin Kaepernick should have been that guy, but that’s for another column).
Now Brady, having been worn down by Belichick after 20 years in Foxboro, had the arrogance of trying to replace his man. Garoppolo’s shortcomings became a theme of every television talk show. The wolves were once again at the gates, and a different QB1 now had to be defended from Brady and his believers.
Surely, Brady would have presented a more immediate advantage in 2020. But his end was near, and the Faithful 49ers didn’t want to be holding the bag when Method TB12 falls into a ravine.
The belief that you are always the best option, regardless of the person you are trying to impersonate, is an arrogance reserved for those who only know success. Those whose minuscule failings in life have been forgotten, a distant memory of a time when you were not a six-time Super Bowl champion who is married to a supermodel and believes in some strange pseudoscientific medicine from the warlock that can extend you for a long time. past when Father Time rings the bell.
And that’s the everyday villainy that it’s hard to connect with or support.
[[[[RELATED: Brady virus dismissal whereby sports should be pausedFor what it’s worth, I don’t think Brady is a villain. He is not the NFL Joker trying to wreak havoc, or Vontaze Burfict running for sport hunting for sport. In essence, he is a nerdy boy who reached the peak of his profession and has rarely failed in any quest.
Success is difficult for some with stomach and joy. Jealousy takes over. The powerful and the yes can torment the mind, and hatred fills the heart, even when personally it has not been harmed.
Brady’s path from the Montana fanatic to the Bay Area villain (and I use that term lightly) doesn’t come from being a specter of postseason defeat or a division rival. It is not his exploits in the field that generate vitriol. Sure, the Make America Great Again hat, the rejection of the coronavirus, and the belief that drinking water can stop sunburn make it easier to dislike. It is all part of the package, but it is not a driving force.
But his presence and ties to Montana and Garoppolo are a constant reminder that the quest to rekindle the former glory of the 49ers is still ongoing. It has become a symbol of lost greatness, missed opportunities, and the paths that 49ers fans wish they had traveled.
