With journeymen receivers or stars, Tom Brady just wins

By ROB MAADDI
AP Pro Football Writer

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tom Brady won his first Super Bowl throwing to Troy Brown, Jermaine Wiggins and David Patten and earned his seventh ring firing passes to Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown and Rob Gronkowski. There’s a significant talent gap between his first crew of journeymen in New England and the all-star cast in Tampa Bay but the common theme is No. 12. He won with Deion Branch, David Givens, Brandon LaFell, Malcolm Mitchell, Chris Hogan and Danny Amendola and helped Julian Edelman and Wes Welker become stars. He’s relied on throwing to his running backs from J.R. Redmond and Kevin Faulk to Shane Vereen and James White. His tight ends have always been favorite targets from Wiggins, Daniel Graham and Benjamin Watson to Aaron Hernandez, Martellus Bennett and Gronkowski.