GLENDALE, Ariz. — He was weary and battered, a champion once again, an MVP once more.

Tom Brady, who wasn’t necessarily the man who made the difference — although certainly he was a difference-maker — stood there as much in gratification as in glory.

No prancing. No pomp. It is a team sport, he reminded everyone after two weeks of questioning his integrity because of Deflategate and a subsequent Super Bowl that left no questions regarding his brilliance.

If you thought Brady, 37, didn’t deserve the Most Valuable Player trophy a third time for helping the New England Patriots win the championship a fourth time, holding on to a 28-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in Super Bowl XLIX, you weren’t alone.

Running back Shane Vereen caught 11 of Brady’s passes, and wide receiver Julian Edelman added 109 yards and a touchdown on nine receptions, many in key situations, returned punts and even carried on a running play.

And Malcolm Butler, a rookie backup cornerback from an obscure school, West Alabama, made the play of game after the Seahawks made the stupid call of the game, throwing a pass from the Patriots 1-yard line with less than a half-minute left instead of giving the ball to star running back Marshawn Lynch.

Butler bashed into Seattle wide receiver Ricardo Lockette as the ball arrived, intercepting the pass and saving the victory.

However, Brady got the MVP award because the quarterback of the winning team so often gets it. He brought New England back from a 24-14 deficit, completing 37 passes of the 50 passes he threw for 328 yards and all four Patriots touchdowns.

It wasn’t exactly a bad performance. On the contrary. It was a special performance.

The 37 completions were a Super Bowl record, and his 13 total TD passes through six Super Bowls also are a record. The three MVPs tie the mark set by Joe Montana, who Brady, growing up in San Mateo, Calif., in a family that owned 49ers season tickets, idolized when Tom was a kid.

Yet instead of a lot of bluster, phrases linking past and present, and emphasizing his own greatness, Brady all but sighed into the microphone, “Yeah, I’m tired. It’s a long day. I think we put a lot into it.”

And got so much out it. Brady, Montana and Terry Bradshaw, with the Pittsburgh Steelers, each was the quarterback of four Super Bowl champions.

“The goal is to score points,” he said about the touchdown-pass record, “however we get them, running it, throwing it, I don’t care. Whatever it took today, that’s what we needed to do. We played against a great defense, and they made a lot of plays. We found a way to get it done down there at the end.”

Brady was asked whether he was surprised the way Seattle tried to get it done and failed, passing instead of going with the veritable sure thing on the goal line, Lynch.

“They’ve got a great ballclub,” answered a diplomatic Brady. “They had a lot of options.”

The Patriots’ success this time evoked memories of unsuccessful Super Bowls including No. XLII here at University of Phoenix Stadium when the New York Giants’ David Tyree made the key catch by pressing the ball against his helmet with one hand.

“This time,” he said, comparing that game with this, “we made the plays.”

So, of course, did Edelman, Vereen and Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola (five catches for 48 yards and a touchdown).

“We needed them because without those guys, we don’t win,” Brady said. “They stepped up. They did it. They were in there a lot. It was hot. It’s a long game. I don’t know what time it is, but it’s late. We needed a great play at the end, and we got it.”

This Super Bowl, the roof of the domed stadium was open, maybe it because at 4:30 p.m. MST, game time, the desert temperature was only 66 degrees. The previous Super Bowl in the same locale, the roof was closed.

But as Brady said in reviewing advice from his taciturn coach, Bill Belichick, when the discussion turned to underinflated footballs, a prime topic in the two-week run-up after the NFL’s conference championship games, “Only concentrate on what you can control.”

The fourth quarter, with New England trailing 24-21, control was of the essence. Brady completed eight consecutive passes, the last one to Edelman for 3 yards and a touchdown just before the two-minute mark.

Brady was asked if that would be the signature drive of a career destined to elevate him to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“I didn’t think about that,” he insisted. “A lot of guys — we made great catches. It’s a team effort.

“Early in the game, I thought we just stopped ourselves. I threw some crappy passes, two interceptions. But going into the second half, I felt we were ready to do it.”

They did it. Tom Brady did it.

“We haven’t had that many games this year that have come down like this,” he said. “I’m glad we made the plays when we needed them.”