Tom Brady had a premonition on the eve of Super Bowl XLIX.
Something told the New England Patriots quarterback that Shane Vereen was about to have the game of a lifetime. Brady even relayed the vision to the running back's parents on Saturday in the team hotel.
The next day, it came true.
While the Patriots mustered only 57 yards on the ground against the Seattle Seahawks, Vereen, who recently signed with the Giants as a free agent, did his damage in the air, catching a game-high 11 passes for 64 yards.
His 11 receptions were the most by a running back in Super Bowl history and tied Dan Ross, Jerry Rice, Deion Branch and Wes Welker for the second-most by any player in Super Bowl history, behind the 13 by Demaryius Thomas in Super Bowl XLVIII.
They also came when the game was on the line.
Vereen touched the ball five times on the Patriots' final drive, setting up Brady's three-yard touchdown pass to Julian Edelman with 2:02 remaining that put New England ahead for good.
"Before the drive started, Tom came into the huddle and just told us we needed a championship drive, and he led us down the field, found the open receivers, the O-line gave him great protection, and we're Super Bowl champs," Vereen said after the game, according to The Boston Globe. "I do what I can because I love this team and this family. Whether I had 20 catches or zero catches, I would be just as happy."
"We knew the backs would catch a lot of balls," Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels added. "It's a zone defense, they hardly played man-to-man, and when they did, Gronk [tight end Rob Gronkowski] really had a big night on the field. When they try to back out of there and give you a lot of space, we knew the backs were going to eventually play a big role and we have a lot of trust in Shane. And he did a great job tonight."
