Eagles’ Super Bowl Victory Highlights Sportsmanship as Tom Brady Reflects on Defeat.

Thy Black Man ^ | Feb 16, 2025 | Staff

[where's_the_Outrage?]

(ThyBlackMan.com) The Eagles victory was greeted joyously in our family. It’s always a high when you (or your team) come out on top. But in the final minutes of the Super Bowl, as the clock remained stuck on the two-minute warning for what felt like 20 minutes (at least for those of us eager to pop the Champagne), former quarterback-turned-TV-commentator Tom Brady filled the air time with lugubrious thoughts about how awful it is to be the loser. “The reality of a loss in this game,” he opined, “is you don’t ever get over them,” adding that he thinks about his losses more than his wins......

Instead of focusing on the “agony of defeat,” Brady could have pointed to the handshakes and pats on shoulders that Kansas City Chiefs players were offering to the Eagles. That’s sportsmanship. That’s how grown-ups respond to loss. As someone once said, “Greet victory like a gentleman and defeat like a man.” (I know the saying leaves out women, but the same principle applies.).....

The game was also quite clean — no epithets or thrown elbows as far as I could see — and that too should be noticed and praised. Frankly, it’s an accomplishment for men engaged in a game that consists of barely disguised physical combat to keep their tempers.

Consider how many kids were watching the game. Do we want to convey the message that losing a game — even an extravaganza game — is something you can never get over? What does that tell kids about other setbacks they will inevitably encounter in life?

[where's_the_Outrage?]

Michael Jordon when talking about his game reflects on the times he missed the winning goal. He should have been better in his mind. And that seems to reflect the attitude of those gifted/lucky enough to play/win multiple ultimate championships.

If you make it once, winning is all. But if you go multiple times and sometimes fail real winners reflect on how to do better. The author misses that point.

[BipolarBob]

Michael Jordan devoted his life to basketball and I think it cost him his marriage/family. I say he’s the best I’ve ever seen.

[alstewartfan]

They don’t pay Brady to lie. Madden stated the same truth about never getting over his SB loss years ago. Real life.

[whitney69]

The average yearly salary in the US is $65,470, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This figure represents the average wage regardless of location, occupation, gender, and other factors.

It might help that each Eagles player being a part of the winning Super Bowl team receives a bonus $171,000, per terms of the 2020 Collective Bargaining Agreement. Each Chiefs player will receive a $96,000 bonus. That means the Chiefs players get 130% for one game of what the common person gets for a whole year. Gosh I feel sorry for them. Let’s look at the most profiled Chief:

Patrick Mahomes, quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs, owns a collection of luxury cars, including a Lamborghini Urus, Ferrari 812 Superfast, Rolls-Royce Cullinan, and Genesis G70. He must feel awful.

wy69

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Well, at least you didn’t have to suffer getting taken down six times by those 250 pound defensive tackles.

[nathanbedford]

I'm not sure I get your point.

Is it a Marxist complaint that some people are rewarded more richly than others?

Is it a cynical observation that the only true motivation for the human spirit is cupidity?

Is it a condescension that only fools will actually root or invest emotions in athletic contests between professionals starting with professional wrestling and including professional football?

Is it a judgment the grown men cannot have real emotions about their endeavors if they are well compensated for their effort?

[spel_grammer_an_punct_polise]

Sheesh! I am still figuratively beating myself up over physical and mental mistakes I made over 60 years ago! That is what a competitive spirit does to oneself. ;-)

[Jolla]

I recall Montana to Dwight Clark “The Catch” against the Cowboys in NFC championship 1982, it still hurts.

[7thson]

I think in a loss - no matter the athlete or level of play - when you lose, you reflect on the one play that could have turned the tide of the game in your favor. In that loss to the New York Giants, the play before the helmet catch, Eli threw a pass that hit a Patriot defender square in the chest. He dropped a sure interception. If he makes that interception, the game is over. Patriots wins. I bet to this day, that defender, when he closes his eyes at night, sees that miss opportunity.

When you lose, you always think of the one thing that could have prevented defeat.

[RainMan]

The author is reflective of modern woke society. Thier attitude is that a participation trophy is just as important as winning. Brady espoused a truth that they don’t want to hear. Losing hurts. The most successful people are those who learn from their mistakes and never repeat them. That does not mean sportsmanship is not important however. Yes, when the game is done, you put on a smile and shake the hand of the victor, but if you don’t feel the pain of the loss and let it drive you in the future, you will never win it all.

This is not just in sports, but sport is a great way to learn this life lesson before you become an adult. If you are in sales, and you don’t close the deal, it should hurt. You should reflect on what you could have done differently so that you would be cashing the commission check instead of your competitor. One of the greatest tragedies of modern society is that we have mitigated the pain of loss so that it does not drive us to get better.

Everyone is aspirational by nature. Self-improvement means you have to recognize ... even obsess ... on your failures. Acceptance means you will forever be mediocre. Brady was spot on.

[mad_as_he$$]

I was at that game. Still pains me.

[mad_as_he$$]

👍👍

[maddog55]

As we say about Brady..you hate him because you ain’t him. The guy is in a $375m 10 year deal with Fox Sports so he’s still winning. Although the Patriots wa weren’t in the Superbowl this year, Brady was in his 8th...just not on the field but behind the mic. Still a winner.

As KC, they needed a humiliating defeat. You should never be handed a victory you have to earn it. The Eagles earned it.

[where's_the_Outrage?]

I’ve never cared about the NBA and don’t watch. However, when MJ was playing I would turn on the tube to see him.

As an aside I was at the game where he hit his 1st home run in Huntsville AL.

[glennaro]

It’s good to keep in mind that the club owners who pay these, frankly, crazy-sounding salaries, is because they expect to make more — a lot more — than what they pay out. Capitalism at its finest by my reckoning. Cheers!

[whitney69]

“Well, at least you didn’t have to suffer getting taken down six times by those 250 pound defensive tackles.”

Nope. I spent 35 plus years attached to the military. And I’ll bert you on the field, not one of them was shot or blown up.

wy69

[whitney69]

“Is it a condescension that only fools will actually root or invest emotions in athletic contests between professionals starting with professional wrestling and including professional football?”

Thank you. The minute you entertained wrestling and football in the same paragraph for comparison, you proved my point.

wy69

[whitney69]

“Capitalism at its finest by my reckoning.”

Totally agree. But trying to play upon people’s sorrow for people who make more money in a couple of weeks than most Americans do for a year because they didn’t win it all is a bit dense. These guys are pros. If they don’t win their bone in the fight but get rewarded well over their cost, isn’t that a bit childish and I don’t think they look at it that way other than ego. And that is something that is not shared. You take the big bucks out of the post season and watch how many sick out. It’s a business, not a high school home coming.

wy69

[Repealthe17thAmendment]

This is where coaching becomes critical. There are several teams that lost a Super Bowl, only to come back and win a short time later. The Eagles are among them.

Andy Reid had lost a Super Bowl with Philadelphia before winning in Kansas City.

Good coaches will keep the players from focusing on the loss, and instead urge the team to use that energy to sharpen their skills and come back stronger.

[ro_dreaming]

Michael Jordan, and I’d wager Tom Brady, hated losing more than they loved winning.