HOUSTON _ Tom Brady won the game, but lost his jersey.
The New England Patriots quarterback said Monday morning that his game jersey was still missing after disappearing Sunday night. He placed it in his bag after the game, perhaps never to be seen again.
"I came out, and it wasn't there anymore," Brady said. "It's unfortunate because that's a nice piece of memorabilia. So if it shows up on eBay somewhere, someone let me know and we'll try to track that down."
Brady accepted the Pete Rozelle Trophy from his archenemy, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who suspended Brady for four games for Deflategate. The two avoided any additional awkwardness by forgoing a handshake and making their interaction quick.
"It's an honor to be here and have the commissioner present us with this trophy," Brady said when asked about his relationship with Goodell. "It certainly means a lot. My kids will be happy to see that trophy. They always ask, 'Daddy, what about the trophy?' I get to bring them one home so it's pretty cool."
Fans have 20 percent of the MVP vote, with 16 media members making up the other 80 percent. Brady said voters should have selected running back James White, who had six carries for 29 yards and two touchdowns and a Super Bowl-record 14 catches for 110 yards and a touchdown.
It certainly was a team effort for the Patriots in overcoming a 25-point second-half deficit with the greatest postseason comeback in history. The Patriots converted a fourth-down play and had two 2-point conversions in winning 34-28 in the Super Bowl's first overtime.
Linebacker Dont'a Hightower forced a fumble of Matt Ryan, defensive end Trey Flowers sacked Ryan for a 12-yard loss, kicker Steve Gostkowski and the special-teams unit forced the Falcons to start at their own 10 after a kickoff, and receiver Julian Edelman made one of the greatest catches in Super Bowl history off the shoe of Falcons cornerback Robert Alford.
"Coach [Bill] Parcells, one of things that he said that's always stuck with me is that in boxing, the mark of a great champion is the one who can get up off the mat and win," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Monday. "I kind of feel that's what we did last night. Even though the score was against us, didn't really feel the game was out of reach. We were able to move the ball. We were able to make some plays. We just didn't have enough points on the scoreboard for quite a while. Eventually, we were able to fight our way back into it."
But it's hard to argue against Brady as either the MVP of Super Bowl LI or as the greatest of all time.
After the Patriots trailed 28-3, Brady completed 26 of 34 for 285 yards and two touchdowns. Brady finished with the most attempts (62), completions (43) and yards (466) in winning his quarterback-record fifth Super Bowl. The Super Bowl MVP award was his record fourth.
"It's just a great team performance," Brady said. "I'm so proud to be a part of this team. We faced a lot of adversities over the course of the year and overcame them with a lot of mental toughness. It was just a great way to really culminate the season.
"We've gotten to this game before and not finished it off the way we wanted. It took kind of a miraculous effort to do it. Just so happy we were able to get it accomplished."
He has five rings and four Pete Rozelle trophies, but Brady won't have the jersey that he likely hoped to present to his mother, Galynn Brady, who is seriously ill.
"Those are pretty special ones to keep," Brady said of the jersey, pausing to control his emotions. "What can you do? I'll take the ring, and that's good enough for me."
