The most important, lasting development from The Return, as NBC came to call Tom Brady’s New England homecoming on Sunday night, wasn’t the win by Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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Nor Brady’s OK but not great role in it.
Nor the fact he broke Drew Brees’ NFL career pass-yards record.
Nor even Brady’s and Belichick’s finger-snap-short post-game hug, nor private, 20-minute locker-room chat long after most players on both sides had showered, dressed and skedaddled.
Rather, football historians years from now — on some NFL Films documentary — might well point to this soggy night in Foxborough as the moment the New England Patriots and their fans became certain they’d found their long-term successor to Brady at quarterback.