Tom Brady reveals he’s had his own ‘flu game’ while naming his favorite non-Super Bowl win with the Patriots

Michael Jordan revealed last spring that he had suffered from food poisoning as opposed to the flu during his iconic performance in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals. NBA superstar revealed in his 10-part documentary with ESPN.

Although Jordan’s “flu game” is not an entirely accurate description, brave cat recently revealed that he has had a flu game of his own in what he calls his most dissatisfyingSuper Bowl won during his 20 seasons with New England Patriots. The game was the 2004 AFC Championship Game played against Brady’s Patriots Steelsmith, who earlier in the year defeated New England NFL record of 21 consecutive wins.

“Boys are like quarantined in [hotel] because we had a lot of sick people,” Brady recalls in Chap 3 in ESPN’s 10-part “Man in the Arena” series about Brady. “I actually had a pretty bad flu the night before the game. I was in slow motion and I wasn’t sure how I was going to play.”

As well as battling the flu, Brady also has to contend with frigid temperatures, a passionate fanbase and a defense that has left him and his teammates bewildered during Halloween.

“It’s a very scary place to play because not only do they have a great defense, but all 65, 70,000 Yellow Riding Hoods are screaming, screaming,” Brady said. “Not to mention, at that time they were leading 16-1.

“They have a very unique style of play. That’s the defense of Dick LeBeau and Blitzburgh.”

The turning point of the game came in the middle of the first quarter. After the Patriots started the game with a Adam Vinatieri on the field, the New England defense stopped Jerome Bettis in the fourth and first half of Pittsburgh’s first possession. One play after the Patriots’ fourth stop, Brady passed deep for Deion Branch to touch the ball at 60 yards.

“It was one of the great throws I’ve ever made in those conditions, because it was frozen,” Brady said.

Another Brady touchdown pass, paired with a rookie six-pack from Rodney Harrison then the Steelers rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, giving the Patriots a 24-3 lead at halftime. And while the Steelers had a small comeback, the Patriots took the game on Branch’s 23-yard touchdown run with 2:32 remaining. New England, less than three months after beating a decisive 34-20 in Pittsburgh, left Heinz Field that night with a 41-27 victory. Brady completed nearly 67% of his pitches against the Steelers’ formidable defense, while the New England defense forced four Pittsburgh passes.

Brady said: “If I wanted to say there is a perfect match of football at the highest level, I would say it is the match. “If we could reproduce that, we would never lose a game.”

Two weeks later, Brady and the Patriots will join the 1990s Cowboys is the only team in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in a span of four years. And while his Super Bowl win is in a category of its own, Brady says his third AFC Championship Game win stands out among non-Super Bowl wins.

“It’s as tough as losing them on Halloween,” said Brady, which was the most satisfying, non-Super Bowl win I’ve had in my 19 years of playing football. ”