Things that are self-evident, attract the least amount of attention.
Realities of greatness which are universally accepted, most often fail to generate their requisite praise.
So let’s not get lost in the finger-pointing, Dunce-cap-fitting, teeth gnashing blame-game of that final play tonight. Not yet.
First things first. Tom Brady, is an awesome quarterback.
Best of All Time? You are now free to make that argument, and it will be hard to knock you off that square of sports opinion.
Tom Brady has four rings, plus two more that were essentially stolen from him by impossible catches (Tyree and Manningham).
He engineered twin 4th quarter TD drives against a defense described as “Best on the Planet.” Nine and 10 play drives, that ended in “Must-Have” daggers for touchdowns.
Brady now has four rings with the following “who’s he?” list of WR’s.
2015 – Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, Brandon LaFell
2005/2004 – Deion Branch, Ernest Givens, Troy Brown
2002 – Brown, David Patten, and Charles Johnson
Sorry to say, but that whole list of dudes is a giant scrub-train on any other team, with any other quarterback.
The fact that Brady was so lightly regarded coming out of Michigan, that so many supposedly smart football people missed “it” on the guy – missed EVERYTHING, really – only buttresses the “Greatest of All Time” argument.
And he’s not done.
If that was my team, I’d buy him a really nice fancy toy to play with these golden years. See what you can get in terms of a WR in free agency, or use your arsenal of picks to go get one in the draft.
Montana had Dwight Clark, Freddie Solomon, John Taylor, and mediocre ballroom dancer, but unbelievable wideout in that guy named “Jerry.”
That should pretty much end any real argument if it’s Tom vs. Joe.
Brady had Randy Moss. He was pretty good…
Bravo on your prediction… Are you from the future? That was a closer description of the game than if I had to give a recap of it today.
I still have to ruminate on Brady as THE best ever… You have some very valid points.
Ahhh…he had Randy freaking Moss to throw to….
Boss Hog:
BFD,,,, Montana had Rice (G.O.A.T.) to throw too an entire career. Brady had Moss for one season.
Brady’s WR’s he’s thrown to are a joke. These guys all had a cup of coffee in the NFL. Along with his RB’s all sucked. His best RB was Corey Dillion.
Not to mention what Brady’s numbers are in the 4th quarters of SB’s. Look them up they’re crazy clutch.
Brady’s got my vote as best QB of all time.
Here’s a question that has always interested me. Tom Brady was selected at the end of the 6th round by the Patriots. Earlier in the 6th round the Cleveland Browns selected QB Spergon Wynn. What if the Browns had selected Brady instead of Wynn? The 2000 Browns were coached by Chris Palmer and had second year QB Tim Couch as their starter. How would Brady have developed as a QB on the Browns? How much of Brady’s success in his career is due to being on the Patriots and developing a relationship with Belichick? Is it a lock that Brady would have been a Hall of Famer no matter where he was drafted?
I think in football it’s very hard to determine ahead of time if a particular player will be good or not. The particular set of circumstances that led to Brady being surrounded with good teammates, good coaches and having Drew Bledsoe get injured in 2001 all lead to Brady being put in a great situation to succeed. Obviously he had talent at the time. Obviously he is very talented now. But I wonder how important it was for him to be on the Patriots, be surrounded by their coaches and all of that helped build his confidence and helped him get better. If he had been on the Browns (or other teams) I doubt that would have all happened and perhaps he would have been out of the league in a few years. In other words, I don’t think it was a lock that he was going to be great. A huge part of his development was dependent on what team and organization drafted him.
And I also think the reverse is true. Chad Pennington was drafted that year by the New York Jets. He had an okay career. What if he had been drafted by the Patriots instead of Brady? Would Pennington have won a Super Bowl or two? Interesting to think about.
There’s no correct answer. Brady & Montana are the best ever, a notch ahead of Bradshaw. Both had ice in their veins when it mattered most. Yeah, Montana had better receivers but Brady lost 2 SBs. So I think that’s a wash. And the Giants pretty much shut Brady down in the miracle helmet-catch game.
I don’t even think Bradshaw is in the top ten. His team had hall of famers all over the place (on both sides of the ball mind you) for that entire Super Bowl run.
Bradshaw’s numbers are terrible by today’s standards (I concede some new rules have helped QB’s achieve better numbers); they’re not in the same stratosphere of Montana or Brady, and not even all that great for his era.
I give the edge to Brady as being the best of the Super Bowl era… but Montana was called Joe Cool for a reason. Tough call but it’s Brady IMHO. Final answer Regis.
Bradshaw never gets his due. I personally don’t like Bradshaw and am NOT a Steeler fan. He wasn’t good in his early years but the man was 4-0 in Super Bowls. He did it in an era when receivers got mugged and there was no dink & dunk West Coast offense. They stretched the field. Younger people always cite the numbers because they don’t understand how relative they are to the era. Sure he had great players around him but you’re telling me that Montana didn’t? Not in the top 10? Dude, you have no idea.
Joe Montana is the best.