Some readers might recall that back in 2015, this unabashed New England Patriots fan wrote a spirited defense of my favorite football team, in the wake of the “Deflategate” accusations against them. What stung the most for many of us in “Patriots Nation” was seeing Tom Brady’s name dragged through the mud by a league office and a commissioner who seemed so determined to stand by their own bungled investigation and unquestionable authority that they were willing to unfairly tarnish the best team of this era and the greatest quarterback of all time.

I will not use this space to relitigate my case against the Deflategate fiasco, because in the two years since that notorious AFC Championship game, Tom Brady and the Patriots have made the best refutation possible, right on the football field. Brady and his teammates have racked up two additional Super Bowl championships since that time, thereby making an additional mockery of the ill-founded accusations of “unfair competitive advantage” they were allegedly gaining by nefarious means.

Some athletes perform best when they have a chip on their shoulder. Tom Brady’s pro career began with that chip when he fell to the sixth round in the 2000 season NFL draft. He spent his first year in the NFL as a backup to Drew Bledsoe, and he completed one pass in three attempts for a grand total of six yards in his rookie season.

But like the driven student of the game that he has always been, and like his coach, Bill Belichick, has always preached, Brady “did his job,” and was ready in 2001 when Bledsoe was injured and Brady was called on to be the “Next Man Up.” Since he took over as starting quarterback in 2001, Brady has led his team in 15 seasons (he missed nearly the entire 2008 season because of a devastating knee injury in the opening game), and he has brought the Patriots to the playoffs 14 times and has earned 13 division championships. And while some of Brady’s overall passing statistics, such as touchdowns, yards gained, completion percentage, or QB Rating, might be slightly lower than a few other elite quarterbacks, Brady’s regular season wins already surpass those of every other quarterback who has ever played; and at age 39, Brady shows no sign of falling off.

Some sports fans might argue that Terry Bradshaw or Joe Montana deserve more credit than Brady because they are each 4-0 in their respective Super Bowl careers. I would counter that both in Super Bowls and in overall playoff performance, Brady now leaves all other quarterbacks in the dust.

Brady has led the Patriots to 11 AFC Championship games and has won 7 of those games. In his 7 Super Bowls, he has now earned 5 victories. And even in the two Super Bowls that he narrowly lost to the Giants, Brady led fourth quarter comebacks that put the Patriots ahead with less than three minutes remaining in the game. Unless you expect him to also play defense, or to simultaneously pass and catch the ball, there is only so much one player can do to bring his team to victory.

Brady’s playoff record now stands at 25-9. Montana’s record of 16-7 is the next best, but it falls short of Brady’s both in overall wins and in winning percentage. And now after leading the Patriots from a 28-3 deficit with less than three minutes remaining in the third quarter to an astonishing 34-28 overtime victory over the Falcons in this year’s Super Bowl, Brady can add to his legacy the indisputable claim of the greatest Super Bowl comeback of all time.

Tom Brady won some vindication with that comeback, but he also cemented his case for the distinction of the Greatest Quarterback of All Time by being the only one ever to have earned Five Super Bowl rings. From here on out, the rest of his career will just increase the gap between his accomplishments and everyone else’s.

John McColgan is a native Bostonian and a proud Patriots fan who writes from his home in Joseph.