NFL-Atlanta zoo welcomes baby cockroach 'Tom Brady'

Feb 14 ( Reuters) - Atlanta Falcons fans no doubt were calling Tom Brady all sorts of names after this month's Super Bowl, and now the city has a cockroach named after the New England quarterback.

Brady and the Patriots proved hard to kill off in the Super Bowl and Zoo Atlanta commemorated New England's historic 25-point comeback victory by paying off a losing bet to its northern counterpart.

The Atlanta zoo and the Roger Williams Park Carousel Village in Rhode Island had agreed the losing side would name a baby animal after the winning team’s star quarterback.

Meet baby Madagascar hissing cockroach "Tom Brady", named after the Super Bowl most valuable player, who led the Patriots from a 28-3 third-quarter deficit to a 34-28 overtime victory.

"Figuring the losing side would be pretty bitter about it, we came to the agreement that baby animal ... would be a Madagascar hissing cockroach. So without further ado -- Meet our newly-named Program Animal family!" Zoo Atlanta announced and pictured on Instagram on Tuesday.

One of the largest species of cockroach, growing up to seven centimeters (about three inches), Madagascar hissing cockroaches are found inside of rotting logs and some people keep them as pets.

(Reporting by Larry Fine; Editing by Andrew Both)