We’ve spent a countless number of Sundays watching the best golfers in the world crumble at the sound of Tiger Woods’ footsteps. This past Sunday, we saw another GOAT create the same mayhem for his athletic adversaries.
The Los Angeles Rams should have blown the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out. In the first half, Tom Brady put on display one of the worst playoff performances of his career. The Buccaneers were noncompetitive in the first half and didn’t look like they even belonged on the same field as the Rams. And the beginning of the second half was more of the same. The Buccaneers looked anemic on offense.
But somehow, against all odds, after being down 27-3 in the third quarter, the Buccaneers willed themselves back into the game. The Rams, as if they were a golfer leading the Arnold Palmer Invitational with Tiger Woods breathing down their neck, began to unravel.
They fumbled three times in the second half, including a snap-miscommunication that flung the ball 20-yards behind Rams’ quarterback Matt Stafford. Fumbles by receiving triple crown winner Cooper Kupp and running back Cam Akers allowed the Buccaneers to tie the game with under a minute remaining. It was unbelievable. It was as if Tom Brady instilled this belief in his teams that, now matter how dire the circumstances, they will always find a way to win. It’s as if the Rams got tight knowing that Tom Brady was the man they were up against. The played as if they didn't know how to handle such a lead when the man on the other side of the field is the greatest winner the sport has ever seen.
Matt Stafford had never been in this situation. He didn’t know how to react, but he was able redeem himself in the final seconds as the Buccaneers allowed Cooper Kupp to run wide open down the middle of the field, setting up the game winning field goal.
It reminded me of the 2018 PGA Championship. Tiger Woods, who was making his comeback from spinal fusion surgery, went into the final round of the tournament trailing leader Brooks Koepka by four strokes. Tiger played out of his mind on the front nine. He shot -3, despite not hitting a single fairway on the entire front nine on a course that had rough as high and as sticky as any US Open golf course. On the 9th hole, he hit a slinging hook from the cart path onto the green and made the mid-range birdie putt that was accompanied by a thrusting fist pump and a roaring crowd.
I remember seeing Justin Thomas on the back nine 3-putt from only a few feet away, and then after the round JT noted that the Tiger-induced crowd roars were different than anything he’d ever heard. JT got to experience the Tiger effect firsthand. And Matt Stafford got to experience the Brady effect on Sunday.
Both Tiger Woods and Tom Brady are larger than life athletes. They’re living legends. They are both probably the greatest at their sport and may not even be finished yet. Both of them are two men who, no matter the odds stacked against them, you absolutely DO NOT bet against. Tom Brady, despite being down 27-3 in the third quarter, was able to tie the game with under a minute remaining. And Tiger Woods, despite all the injuries, the scandals, and the drama surrounding him, has been able to will himself back to the very top of his sport. And he’s about to do it again.
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