Last Night's Winner: Tom Brady's Indomitable Will

In sports, everyone is a winner—some people just win better than others. Like Tom Brady, who had kind of a big day yesterday.

It's not every day you can wreck a loaner Audi, and it's not everyday that you can sign a contract extension that makes you the highest-paid person in your field. But Tom Brady is so exceptional, he managed to do both in less than 24 hours. And lest anyone forget, he's married to a beautiful woman. Everything's coming up Brady.

Never mind the man injured in the collision with Brady's loaner Audi. Sure Rogerio Rodrigues is still in surgery, and his family is upset that the Tom Brady-obsessed media has shaped this story as a narrative about Tom Brady, but what can you expect? It wasn't Jake Delhomme getting into a car accident now, was it? Forget that Boston fans are once again talking about how nervous something made them — let's just appreciate Tom Brady for his very Tom Brady-ness.

The player who scratched and clawed his way up the depth chart with a little help from Mo Lewis, who scratched and clawed his way to three Super Bowl wins, who scratched and clawed his way out of a relationship with Bridget Moynahan, who scratched and clawed his way into the Pantheon of Greats, has scratched and clawed his way out of a potentially dangerous situation—shaking off a fender-bender the way he would shake off a would-be-tackler, for he is always cool under pressure—and then a few hours later got rewarded for all his hard work over the years. So clutch. Finally, his value as the most valuable quarterback of the last decade has been put to ink and paper, proper signatures affixed. Yes, Tom Brady is last night's winner for he is finally in a place where people who like Tom Brady always thought he should be: atop the NFL salary ladder. At least until Peyton Manning signs a new extension this weekend.

Tom Brady deal done [Boston Herald] Sister of man injured in crash with Tom Brady says family is suffering [Boston Globe]

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