I've had similar experiences as you. It all really depends who you know and your willingness to keep digging forward to get somewhere whether you are in private or public sector. Generally speaking, private has more potential. Nowadays, economy is pretty bad, so working in public sector might be...
Man, 40k is really low, especially with a PE. Have you thought about looking around or you plan to stay with this company? I would suggest to see how much other companies would offer you. Then you can come back to the table and tell them and you won't look too greedy because someone else is...
Brady lost to the Giants once in the Super Bowl, so you know he wants to get back at them.
When Tebow took centerstage and overshadowed Brady, Brady played very well (He also punted the ball at the end just to spite them too imo, lol).