I’ll never forget going to see “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”. It was approaching New Year’s Eve in 2001 and change was in the air, along with rain.

What was once a rare and sunny winter Florida day; it suddenly caromed into this dreary, windy, rainy day at Disney in Orlando, Fl. and our prospects were grim. My girlfriend at the time decided we should go see this movie rather than stay holed up in the hotel. I was less than enthusiastic about the prospect of this film, but I went with it.

It was probably [to date] the most riveting movie experience of my life and I eagerly raced back to theaters in pursuit of other journeys for “the ring.”

A few weeks later, my shift ended at TGIF and I hung out with some patrons I’d just got finished serving. The New England Patriots – lead by an unknown QB named Tom Brady – were playing the Oakland Raiders in an AFC divisional title game. The game was being played in the middle of a snowstorm, and I caught it just as Brady was trying to rally his team down 13-10 with about two minutes to play.

After a TV timeout, I saw Brady drop back to pass. He appeared to be hit by a surging Charles Woodson and fumbled as the Raiders recovered it. It seemed pretty clear to me and my new friends, as we immediately bolted while writing off Brady and the Patriots.

It was the last game ever played at Foxboro Stadium, and that play would famously make that game become known as “The Tuck Rule Game”. The “fumble” turned into an incomplete pass, and Brady would go on to lead the Patriots to an improbable 16-13 overtime win.

He would eventually complete that perilous journey by beating the seemingly invincible St. Louis Rams to claim his first Super Bowl ring.

Four more championship game appearances and two rings later, the now legendary Tom Brady is a veteran of sage in pursuit of a rare fourth ring. To do it, he’ll probably have to go through another blinding snowstorm and other seas of doubt.

His decline was chronicled a few weeks ago across a football nation eager to write his obituary, but pallbearers should be warned. Not only is the coffin empty, but so too are thoughts of his demise. If we’ve learned nothing else from Tom Brady, we certainly know that his is a story straight out of Hollywood. Therefore, why wouldn’t his career have a Hollywood ending?

Blog By John Gatling