Tag: Super Bowl LIII

Aaron Donald reveals why he hated Tom Brady for three years

Aaron Donald admits he hated Tom Brady for three years after this moment

There’s no question that one of the most devastating losses in Aaron Donald’s NFL career was falling to the New England Patriots 13-3 at Super Bowl LIII.

It was a battle of elite defenses with Tom Brady leading his offense on a crucial fourth-quarter touchdown drive to ultimately put it away for New England.

Donald was so confident coming into the game that he assured his daughter the Rams would win, and they’d play in the confetti after it was over. Unfortunately for the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Brady and the Patriots had other plans.

When appearing on “The Pivot Podcast,” Donald admitted he hated Brady for three years after that Super Bowl loss.

“That broke my heart. I ain’t gonna lie. Losing that Super Bowl, I ain’t gonna lie, I was down for like two months. I hated Tom Brady for like three years after that,” said Donald. “I ain’t gonna lie, I was mad. I was telling my daughter, ‘We gonna win this.’ This was the [2018-2019] year. We was on fire.

“I’m like, ‘Can’t nobody stop us.’ I’m like, ‘We gonna handle business, we gonna win this.’ I told her, ‘Daddy gonna bring you on the field. We gonna play in this confetti.’ She was like, ‘I can’t wait, daddy.’ I remember walking off the field and seeing my daughter cry. I felt like I let her down.”

Donald vowed he’d do everything he could to never let a moment like that slip away again. He made good on that promise three years later at Super Bowl LVI against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Getting over the hump and hoisting a Lombardi Trophy was the perfect cure for his competitive anger towards Brady.

At the very least, he can find solace in the fact that his outcome was better than the long line of players who have had their Super Bowl dreams crushed by Brady and the Patriots.

Rob Gronkowski explains difference between Super Bowl win with Patriots, Bucs

This one was full of joy for the future Hall of Fame tight end.

Despite an unprecedented amount of success, it was clear that Rob Gronkowski wasn’t his happiest, most content self with the New England Patriots.

Gronkowski played in a militant, cold environment that was geared toward one thing and one thing only. Having fun and enjoying the process isn’t on the top of the list for Bill Belichick. After a slew of injuries and other factors, Gronkowski chose retirement following the Patriots’ Super Bowl LIII victory.

When Tom Brady moved on to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Gronkowski rekindled his love for the game and paired up with his former quarterback. The rest is history. Brady has seven rings and Gronkowski has four following the 31-9 drubbing of the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV. Brady and Gronkowski connected for six receptions, 67 yards and two touchdowns in the game.

How was this one different than Super Bowl LIII in 2018?

“I remember after that win I was so done coming off the [field],” Gronkowski said after the game, via WEEI. “I was like, ‘I am just glad it’s over.’ Just the pain I was in, too. It was great to be a champ, but it just felt great to be done. [I took] the year off, go through that journey. Heal up. Get my mind right and just see the options out there, see everything play out and just come down here to Tampa Bay. Come out of retirement. I retired from being retired, which is pretty cool.

“Just coming down here [for] this journey. I saw the opportunity. I thought it was a great opportunity. I love Florida. It was an opportunity to be in great weather and t-shirt and shorts and sandals basically every day going to work. That’s my style. Just unbelievable. What a journey it’s been. What a story it’s been. What a start it was to the journey and what a finish. It’s for real. It was the real deal.”

Gronkowski understands the magnitude of this win and put it up there with some of the greatest sports accomplishments ever.

“Hands down, one of the greatest accomplishments in sports history,” he said. “I am not going to say it’s the greatest, but I would say it’s up there, for sure. To come down here to Tampa, come to an organization that was ready to win. Come down here to play with players, they are all fantastic players. Great guys. Just everyone overall. The story is just unbelievable and it definitely ranks up there as one of my biggest accomplishments, ever.”

And now, of course, it’s time to celebrate for the future Hall of Fame.

“It feels amazing. It feels tremendous. It’s just an unbelievable story,” he said. “The first team ever going to the Super Bowl in their hometown. Just that story is just surreal. There’s just so many storylines to this team this year, but I would say the most important storyline was how everyone worked together from the defensive side to the offensive side of the ball. Everyone contributed. Everyone played their role. It was just amazing. What a year it was playing with these guys. Just what a year. I just can’t say that enough — what a year it was. It was a pleasure.

“Now. it’s time to celebrate. Now it’s time to celebrate with these guys because we deserve it. It was a grind. It was about 28 weeks straight of football. Now we’re going to celebrate because that is what it’s all about.”

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Report: How much did Josh Gordon’s Super Bowl LIII ring sell for at auction?

How much did Josh Gordon’s Super Bowl LIII ring sell for?

Josh Gordon didn’t play for the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII. However, the troubled wideout was given a Super Bowl ring.

He has turned around and sold it for $138,000 per Sportscollectorsdaily.com.

Gordon played in 12 games for the Patriots in their 2018 Super Bowl championship season but was suspended by the NFL in December of that year and missed the playoffs. The Patriots downed the Rams, 13-3, to earn the rings.

Gordon currently is a free agent.

 Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Josh Gordon to have his New England Patriots, Super Bowl LIII ring auctioned

Josh Gordon has decided to part ways with his Super Bowl LIII ring, earned with the New England Patriots

Josh Gordon was on the Super Bowl LIII champion New England Patriots for 11 games, making 40 catches for 720 yards. Now, the wide receiver is going let someone else grab his championship ring as it is being put on the auction block.

Heritage Auction is pitching it as the sixth and final ring of the Tom Brady era. Its value is labeled at $100,000-plus. The ring was earned when the Patriots defeated the Rams, 13-3. Gordon was no longer with the team for the playoff run

On Dec. 20, 2018, Gordon announced that he would step away from football to focus on his mental health. The NFL later stated that Gordon faced an indefinite ban for violating the terms of his conditional reinstatement under the NFL drug policy.

Josh Gordon
Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

The details:

This particular example was issued to the man who caught Brady’s 500th career touchdown pass on October 4, 2018, a thirty-four-yard connection that was Gordon’s first trip to paydirt with the Pats.

… the ring’s design is effectively an upgrade of the 2016 model, adding that sixth figural Lombardi Trophy to a face utterly coated in diamonds, with blue and red stone providing color to the Patriots logo. “Word Champions” thunders in bold text at each vertical edge. Left shank identifies its recipient by name and diamond-studded jersey number, while still more diamonds frame Gilette Stadium’s signature view lighthouse and bridge. The text “6X” requires no further explanation.

The right shank provides even more diamond studs framing text reading, “Patriots, Still Here” and the logo and final score of Super Bowl LIII. The years of the previous five Super Bowl victories span the bottom of the band, which measures to a size eleven and a half (11.5) and contains Robert Kraft’s simple but effective slogan, “We Are All Patriots.” Total weight is eighty-seven grams (87 g.). Total gem carat weight is a remarkable 9.85. Crafted in ten karat (10K) gold by Josten’s.

The ring should set the winner back at least six figures. So, before you decide to bid make sure to check your deep bank account.

It seems Tom Brady just can’t quit Julian Edelman

Bucs QB Tom Brady had a hilarious response to Julian Edelman’s Instagram post welcoming Cam Newton to town.

Tom Brady may be the new quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he still has plenty of friends on the New England Patriots, including wide receiver Julian Edelman, who was part of three-Super Bowl winning teams with Brady. Edelman even won Super Bowl MVP following the Patriots’ Super Bowl LIII win over the Los Angeles Rams.

While Brady will have plenty of talented receivers to work with in Tampa, including his former Pats teammate Rob Gronkowski, it’s clear he and Edelman are still great friends, evident by this hilarious comment Brady left on Edelman’s recent Instagram post welcoming quarterback Cam Newton to New England.

Take a look.

Newton famously wore No. 1 with the Carolina Panthers, so he could very well look to keep that same number with the Patriots.

As for Brady, he’ll just have to accept that Edelman has found someone else. Leave the past in the past, Tom!

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Gronk’s last reception from Brady was the biggest of his career

The last time Rob Gronkowski caught a pass from Tom Brady, it helped the Patriots win their sixth Super Bowl title.

Rob Gronkowski will return to the field in 2020 to join Tom Brady and the revamped Tampa Bay Buccaneers, ending his one-year retirement in his quest to help Brady secure ring number seven.

Brady, himself, is already celebrating the trade that brought his friend and former teammate to the bay, while New England fans will just have to re-watch highlights of Gronk and Brady’s glory years together with the Pats. And there were plenty of them.

Gronk has not only caught the most touchdown passes from Brady, but his last reception from the future Hall of Fame quarterback was perhaps the biggest of the tight end’s career.

In Super Bowl LIII against the Los Angeles Rams, in a close (and somewhat boring) game, Brady and the Pats were looking to score late in the fourth quarter to break a 3-3 tie with the Rams. Brady needed a big play, and dialed up a call for his tight end. Gronk snagged a 29-yard reception while fighting off defenders that helped set up a two-yard Sony Michel rushing touchdown on the very next play. The Patriots would go on to win 13-3.

Take a look back at that big moment.

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This old clip of Ndamukong Suh talking about Tom Brady will make your day

Before they were teammates in Tampa, Ndamukong Suh and Tom Brady were rivals, and Suh talked about Brady prior to Super Bowl LIII.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh struck a one-year deal yesterday that will see the big man back with the Bucs defense next season.

Suh was a welcome addition to Tampa Bay last offseason after the team parted ways with franchise-favorite Gerald McCoy after nine seasons. (Suh was famously selected one spot ahead of McCoy in the 2010 NFL draft.) In his first season with the Bucs, Suh helped the Buccaneers become the league’s best rush defense, so his return is something to be celebrated.

But, Suh isn’t the only big fish the Bucs landed since free agency began. Quarterback Tom Brady is now a Buccaneer, meaning he and Suh are teammates after spending years as rivals while Brady was with the New England Patriots and Suh with the Miami Dolphins.

Now teammates, Suh will be spending less time tackling Brady and more time high-fiving him (we hope). But, if you want to see how Suh views his new quarterback, take a look at this hilarious clip from Super Bowl LIII media day, where Suh, then a Los Angeles Ram, spoke about going up against the Patriots’ Golden Boy.

For those who don’t feel like sitting through 30-second ad just to watch a 21-second clip, here’s an excerpt of what Suh had to say:

“By no means am I ever afraid of going against [Brady]. I played him early in my career. So, I guess the shining bright star he is kind of faded away many years ago.”

Knowing that Suh and Brady are now teammates just makes me so happy. Unfortunately, I doubt other NFL teams are as thrilled by the prospect of a Bucs offense led by Brady and a defense led by Suh.

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