It’s finally time to admit it. I can’t help but like Tom Brady.

I know it goes against every orange and white instinct running through my body, but Brady just continually does things that make me shake my head in disbelief. Advancing to his ninth Super Bowl with Sunday’s 37-31 overtime win in Kansas City is just another notch on Brady’s belt.

Around these parts, Brady’s claim to being the greatest quarterback of all time is usually met with two words, "Peyton Manning." I loved to watch Manning play, and he’s as good individually as it gets. Brady is just as good, and his teams are almost always a little better.

The reasons people hate Brady are easy to list. People will talk about Spygate and Deflategate, or the fact he’s played his entire career under the best NFL coach in history, Bill Belichick, who happens to be quite a crumudgeon.

More likely though, Brady hate is born out of pure jealousy. I know mine was.

He marries models. He models. He’s a multi-millionaire. He doesn’t seem to age. We all know that guy in our life – and we hated that guy. 

But when I start applying some of his characteristics to other athletes, I realize he’s a lot like the guy I enjoyed most in another sport.

Brady has played his whole career for one team. He’s played under a legend. He constantly heaps praise on his teammates, coaches and fans for success. Rarely is Brady arrogant - he’s just confident.

When the stakes are the highest, Brady always seems to get better. He’s the one guy you’d always hope would have the ball in his hands at the end of the game. He’s loved and adored by his fanbase – almost to a reverential degree. 

Tim Duncan led my favorite team for nearly two decades doing the same thing. He just happened to be a low-key guy off the field who wasn’t busy marrying movie stars or models.

When Brady put the video on his Instagram Sunday night casually strolling with Rob Gronkowski out of the locker room, saying nothing as P Diddy’s “Bad Boys for Life,” played in the background, I couldn’t help but smile. He’s earned my respect, begrudgingly.

Will any of this matter in two weeks when the Patriots play the Rams in Atlanta? Of course not. I’ll 100 percent be rooting for the Rams to destroy New England.

I already know that won’t happen though. How could it as long as Brady is playing?