It’s Almost Time for the Super Bowl, and Everyone’s Talking About Tom Brady

Also, a few words with Troy Polamalu, a candidate for the NFL Hall of Fame this year, about the Super Bowl, Patrick Mahomes and his hair, why he liked the Sonic movie and more.

Author:
Mitch Goldich
Publish date:
Jan 31, 2020

MIAMI — After a relatively tame Super Bowl week there has actually been an uptick in news around the NFL. Greg Olsen and the Panthers are splitting up. Frank Gore wants to come back. Carson Palmer is reheating some spicy beef with the Bengals. And yet all anyone wants to talk about is the Tom Brady photo. Can’t we go one Super Bowl without the Patriots dominating the news cycle?

Brady released a cryptic, black-and-white photo of himself, possibly walking toward the camera or possibly walking away from it. What does it mean? Nobody knows. But everyone is going a little crazy because his free agency is the biggest story of the offseason and the biggest free-agency story since we were watching blurry videos of Peyton Manning in 2012.

I only know two things. One: Everybody should be on high alert. Super Bowl week should be treated with the same skepticism as April Fool’s Day. Anything interesting has a high likelihood of being a mere cog in some sort of experiential Super Bowl commercial marketing scheme.

And two: We’re making too much of the photo. I think it’s pretty clear Brady is having a little fun with us. I’ll give him credit; he—and his team, presumably—have been pretty funny since joining Twitter. He picks his spots, and his jokes are usually solid. He has a high hit rate in a field with a lot of swings and misses. But he also knows exactly how to play you. He knows the reaction that photo creates, and he’s getting it. But I think a lot of people are overreacting. Could he announce his retirement soon? Maybe. Could he announce he’s leaving the Patriots soon? That’s even more possible. But he’s not going to do it with a black-and-white photo and no text.

This is a guy who owns a production company and has already released a documentary about himself. He’s a mega star, who knows how to turn his own news into #content he can probably monetize. You think he’d announce a major decision with a simple black-and-white photo instead of LeBron James-style decision interview or a Derek Jeter-style Players Tribune post? Calm down.

I think it’s time for kickoff.

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A few words with…

Troy Polamalu! The 11-year vet, four-time All-Pro and two-time Super Bowl champion is a first-time finalist for the Hall of Fame this week, and we caught up on Radio Row.

MG: It’s a really big week for you, possibly getting into the Hall of Fame. How meaningful would it be for you to get that news?

TP: It would be a tremendous honor. Definitely an honor, not only for myself, but more importantly for my teammates and the coaches. They know how hard it was to be my teammate [laughing]. They lined me up, put me in the right places to make plays. But definitely, it’s an honor and a tribute to them, that I’m able to be here today.

MG: Patrick Mahomes is playing in the big game Sunday, and I know you’ve been in a commercial with him for Head & Shoulders. What’s he like as an actor? Is he as good on set as he is on the football field?

TP: Yeah, he’s a great person. He definitely has something that’s really different about him, that says greatness. And not just his hair.

MG: But does he have a future in acting?

TP: Absolutely, yeah. He’s very natural. It was actually really fun to spend the whole day with him last summer shooting the commercial. But you could definitely sense then that he was gonna do something special this year. Like win another MVP or Super Bowl MVP, who knows. But he’s a great person, I really hope the best for him.

MG: I know you’re a big movie guy. [Polamalu doesn’t tweet too often, but his feed has lots of shots of himself standing next to movie posters.] Do you have a pick for Best Picture yet this year?

TP: Oh man, no I don’t. Recently I’ve been watching a lot of Disney+. Mandalorian, all that fun stuff. As far as movies, I can’t think of anything right now. It’s January, I don’t know what would be on the new docket right now.

MG: Marriage Story? 1917?

TP: So I haven’t watched either of those yet. 1917, I definitely want to watch that. But we’ve got a nine- and an 11-year old kid that we have to watch everything with.

MG: You tweeted that you saw a sneak peek of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, and that your kids liked it. But did you like it? You left that out.

TP: I did. I really enjoyed Sonic. It’s a really good movie. It’s a classic kids movie. It doesn’t have any sort of different message, other than good entertainment.

MG: Because people were making fun of it. They were laughing about the trailer and the animation.

TP: No man, I really thought it was a good movie. And I was a big Sonic fan. I played Sega, and it’s a great video game. It’s funny because it reminds me of a lot of kids these days. Like hyperactive, can’t stop talking. That’s who Sonic is, he’s just a normal kid these days. I looked at Sonic like dude that’s definitely my son. Ball of energy, can’t stop talking, always needs to be stimulated, always picking at things.

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Required reading

Albert Breer on the relationship between Steve Spagnuolo and Andy Reid, who are back to chasing a Super Bowl together.

Kalyn Kahler took a Florida field trip to find out about Raheem Mostert’s roots.

Michael Rosenberg on Patrick Mahomes. He is simply incredible.

More from Rosenberg: Is the NFL ready for a bad call to decide the Super Bowl?

Or if you don’t like reading, this week’s episode of the MMQB Gambling Podcast features me, Gary Gramling and Jimmy Traina talking about the Super Bowl. Spoiler alert: I like the Chiefs, the over and an unhealthy amount of prop bets.

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