He will be wearing No. 81 and catching passes from his benefactor, Tom Brady, and if you are one who prefers to hold out hope for a fellow man’s redemption, you will root for Antonio Brown.

If you are a Buccaneers fan and you are rooting for Brady to beat Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, you will be rooting for Antonio Brown.

If you are a Patriots fan and you are rooting for Brady to win his seventh Super Bowl, you will be rooting on Super Sunday for Antonio Brown.

And it’s OK for them to root for Antonio Brown.

And it’s also OK, not only for fans of the Chiefs and the Raiders and Steelers as well, but for fans everywhere who deserve heroes who don’t necessary have to be role models but act civilly and professionally, not to root for Antonio Brown.

If he weren’t such a talent, if Brady hadn’t vouched for him, first with Bill Belichick and now with Bruce Arians, Antonio Brown would already have completely sabotaged his NFL career, and no one would have shed a tear or missed him.

He has spent the past few years toe-tapping by the sideline of the law, leaving a litany of troubling behavioral issues and scorched-earth entitlement in his wake.

“It’s all about controlling your emotion, physically, mentally when you don’t feel good. … Not being a slingshot when others come at me. … Learning how to control my attitude, not letting my emotions get the best of me, even if I feel someone was wrong doing what they did, just being forgiving, staying positive,” Brown said on his Wednesday Zoom call.

In other words, someone other than who he has been.

He forced the Steelers to reluctantly trade him to the Raiders. He almost immediately forced the Raiders to cut him, voiding nearly $30 million in guaranteed money. He lasted one game and 11 days with the Patriots following allegations that he had sexually assaulted a former trainer. He served an eight-game NFL suspension before Brady brought him home to meet Gisele and Arians vowed a zero tolerance policy turning a blind eye to headlines such as these:

Antonio Brown gets two years probation after pleading no contest in truck driver battery case.

Report: Antonio Brown backed out of potential settlement with former trainer Britney Taylor

Civil lawsuit against Antonio Brown most likely won’t go to trial during 2020 season

It is OK, of course, for one and all to root for the rehabilitation of Antonio Brown, even if he already has gotten second and third and fourth chances.

It is also OK to root for him tomorrow, just not today.

The jury is very much out, but so far so good, because we have recently read this headline:

Buccaneers want WR Antonio Brown back for 2021 season.

Has he been scared straight at last? Scared that he could be on the brink of throwing it all away? Has he seen the light at 32? Can a leopard change his spots? Randy Moss did, right?

Or will the demons inside him start to stir again and shadow him like a shutdown corner and send him into exile forever living a life of regret?

This was and is his best chance, his last chance, to get it right.

“He’s not the first and he’s not the last athlete to be able to battle adversity, and I’m not gonna really speak on his off-the-field issues ’cause I’ve definitely had my own,” Moss, now with ESPN, said on a conference call, “but when you look at what he’s been through, the roller coasters and him being able to get back on the field … all the naysayers and all the question marks about why Bruce Arians and the Tampa Bay Bucs would bring a guy like Antonio Brown to their team where they already had the weapons right in place … for them to really ignore all the noise and all the hype surrounding that team …

“For us as fans, for him to be on a team, and the coach put rules and everything in place for him, and he’s been a model citizen. … You gotta tip your hat off to him because he’s been that type of guy that the locker room expected and he’s been that type of guy that Tom Brady lobbied for, and he’s been that guy that Tom Brady wanted on the field.”

Brown, who is listed as limited (knee), was soft-spoken and respectful and humble during his Zoom call, grateful for this last chance to prove to himself and others that he is still an elite receiver, and grateful for Brady.

“You gotta be persistent, you gotta be disciplined, you could never give up,” Brown said, “make a plan, have goals, have good people in your corner that believe you and support you, anything is possible. … Look at myself. … I’ve been through some things, persevered through some things, but that’s life.”

He has made his own bed.

But Brady wouldn’t sleep on him. Brady has been his personal GOAT, his guardian angel.

“I don’t have any predisposed notions of how things will go or his they should go, I try to in my own way try to be a positive influence in their life, they’re a positive influence in my life,” Brady said. “Randy and I connected right away, Antonio and I connected right away.”

It turns out they are two peas in a football pod.

“He has a great love for the game. … He’s a real perfectionist about how he plays, how he takes care of himself,” Brady said. “Incredible football IQ. And then, again, a great skill-set just as a player.

“I think made incredible strides over the last 12 months to get from where he was at to where he’s at now. … I have the ability to help people through my own experiences to help them be the best they can be. … Everybody is dealing with life, it’s not always the easiest thing for all of us. So you just try to provide some words of support or advice. … We need to care for people more, and allow people to blossom and be the best they could be because they can trust you and that you believe in ’em, you want to ltimately see ’em succeed.”

When he was asked how he feels about being on the same field with Brady, Brown smiled and said simply: “There’s nothing better than that.”

Growing up and living life the right way would be better than that.

What would he want his legacy to be?

“A guy that was persistent, a guy that never gave up, no matter the odds, no matter the hate, no matter the scrutiny, no matter what I went through,” Brown said. “I want my legacy to be a sixth-round kid [out of Central Michigan] … earned everything he got … persevered through every adversity. And a guy who had the will of a champion. For me, everything I’ve been through prepared me for this position, and prepared me for where I’m at in my life right now.”

Brown was asked what he would say to his rookie self.

“Take nothing for granted,” Brown said. “This game could be taken away any moment. Just maximize your opportunity. ’Cause you never know when you get another opportunity,”

He should thank his lucky stars, and he should thank Tom Brady, that he has this one.