For New Englanders, Tom Brady played superhero

Today was the day many New England Patriots fans thought may never come. After a 22-year career in professional football, legendary quarterback Tom Brady finally announced his retirement. And while some, myself included, were initially perplexed and disappointed by his omission of the Patriots and their fans, it's important to remember that for this region, he played superhero and represented the fanbase in an improbable, if not near-perfect way.

If you went back in time and told Patriots fans in 1995 that a beanpole from suburban San Francisco would marry a Brazilian supermodel and become a Boston sports icon, they would have laughed at you.

Previous sports legends included the likes of Bobby Orr, Carlton Fisk, and Bill Russell; all blue-collar lunch-pail heroes who signified the heartbeat of a tough and cold part of the world.

New Englanders are a proud but private people, suspicious of those we may not know. We think good walls make good neighbors. We're academic, but don't want to be perceived as the smartest people in a room because that's off-putting. A little bit of JFK wrapped into Mark Wahlberg.

But yet, Tom Brady was all of those things in one, too. Colin Sullivan and Will Hunting personified on a football field. And that's why he was our super hero, no matter what he did in the now-only-relevant-because-of-him sports city of Tampa, Florida.

He'll forever be a beloved sports figure here because he embodied the spirit of the region; leading underdogs and powerhouses alike to championship after championship. Taking less money to help the team win. Always looking carrying a chip on his shoulder or looking for an edge. Somehow, Tom Brady was the most relatable sports superstar despite having a luxurious lifestyle where he pitched Aston Martin and Uggs.

Perhaps it is because he was picked 199th overall or because he was benched at Michigan. Or maybe it was because Brady felt like had to overcome labels like "system quarterback" or "unathletic" during his young career. My guess is that his "us against world" attitude toward Deflategate earned his trust with local fans forever, beyond what happened on the field. Either way, thousands of fans who felt slighted by the NFL, other teams, or for any reason whatsoever - from a region known to dump tea in a harbor and start a revolution - identified with this upstart California bourgeois.

For that reason, Tom Brady will always be our superhero.