This may be because I'm a Philly guy-- but I'd compare Tom to Bobby Clarke.
One of the greatest hockey players of all time, an undisputed Hall-of-Famer, yet somehow neglected or outright disrespected by so-called "hockey purists" who've never seen a minute of ice time themselves (or who simply resent the Broad Street Bullies-era Flyers). Clarkie was chippy, a scrapper, the undisputed leader of those teams, and a complete and total winner with either his fists or his stick. He was a versatile and savvy player, regardless of the talents he'd been born with, and someone who made everyone around him a better player and person. He also had to struggle with diabetes, and yet that never really interfered with an amazing durability. Week in and week out, he merited the captaincy.
All that, and though some may quibble with the results-- he came back in later years to manage what he'd been an instrumental part in building. A case, in other words, of the slobs beating the snobs.