I should have put a stopwatch on how long it would take Charles S to respond to this thread - he is an "out of the closet" Pats fan, which takes courage on this forum.
I'm a) Hawks fan and b) not the biggest Brady fan, but I have to say I gained extra measure of respect for him during the AFC championship game. It has been a long time since I have seen a QB get pummeled that badly - and as a hawks fan, I should know what QB pummelings look like, having seen our o-line allow some kinda ugly sacks of Wilson these past years. Despite the constant pressure and hits, Brady hung tough for that whole game and kept getting up and ballin' out. They would have wheeled me off the field on a cart a long time before that.....
Kinda wish Belichick would have had to take a few of the shots that Brady endured. Might have been character-building for him, and would have made for an instant video classic.