At Old Trafford, Tom Brady blessed us with his presence in the directors' box, a reminder that even the greatest must call it a day at some point.
Cristiano Ronaldo, on the other hand, had no such thoughts while on the field. He's seven years younger than Brady, who retired in February after narrowly missing out on adding to his record-tying seven Super Bowl wins.
The Portugal international also believes he has much more to offer, a point he made clearly against Tottenham.
Make no mistake, there must have been occasions in the previous week when Ronaldo wondered if he was wasting his time back at Manchester United - misgivings that will persist despite this victory.
He snuck away to Portugal without United's knowledge to heal from a hip flexor injury or perhaps just a bruised ego after being asked to sit on the bench in the Manchester derby.
In any case, he appeared amazingly energized after only a few days back in full training. On MYBLOGPAY Sports, Roy Keane remarked, 'I'm happy he's recovered.' 'Clearly, a few days in Portugal helped me recover from an injury.'
Ronaldo was restored to the starting lineup and scored a stunning strike from 25 yards in just over 11 minutes.
It was only his second goal in 11 games this season, but a tap-in from Jadon Sancho's cross came just 26 minutes later. This time it's more of a 'hip, hip hooray!' than a'siu!'
He was at it again in the 81st minute, completing his 59th career hat-trick and keeping United's Champions League chances alive with a header from Alex Telles' corner.
What an outpouring of emotion. What an amazing performance. This is a man who is still obsessed with winning, both for his team and for himself.
Much of Ronaldo's discontent with United since his return has revolved around how much standards have deteriorated since Sir Alex Ferguson's glory days.
It's possible that he'll leave Old Trafford for the second time this summer as a result of it. Even more so if United is in the Europa League on Thursday nights.
But anyone who doubted that United would miss him wasn't paying attention during the game.
Sure, a team of this caliber can't continue to rely on a 37-year-old, especially one as fit as Ronaldo. He has a hard time tracing his steps back. And, yes, he is prone to a tantrum.
However, he now has 18 goals for the season, which is more than twice as many as United's next top scorer, Bruno Fernandes, who has nine. It would be difficult to replace that many objectives.
It'll be interesting to see whether Ronaldo decides he's done everything he can for the club. If that's the case, he'll leave us with even more amazing memories, and this season's team was right up there with Villarreal, Newcastle, and Atalanta.
Brady stood from his seat at Old Trafford to applaud a fellow superstar as he departed the pitch to a standing ovation. The GOAT, on the other hand, recognizes brilliance when he sees it.
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