Is Tom Brady the greatest of all time?

Tom Brady is going into free agency in the NFL and the football world is losing their minds. What or who is landing the future HOFer? Who is Tom Brady – and what are they getting in him?

Whoever lands him, is getting the greatest.

The man know as “Tom Terrific” or simply called the GOAT – take your pick of nicknames for the 42 year old legend. No one can unbiasedly say that what Brady has done in his career is anything but excellent. Regardless of how you feel about him. His leadership and big play ability both have him as one of the greatest of all time – his heart and grit has always been amazing.

Although rings don’t mean everything to me. Tom has eventually gone and done even that vs Joe and surpassed him in that overrated category as well. They shouldn’t –  they are what the game is played for – absolutely – in a perfect example, to say Marino, Barry Sanders, and Cris Carter were not great players because of their lack of jewelry is just absurd.

But what Tom has done with the level of some of the players he has had over the years is beyond measure to me. Troy Brown, Deion Branch, and Reche Caldwell are guys who would have been a probable WR3 on the majority of teams they went to. As their careers went into oblivion once they were no longer getting passes from #12. Caldwell went from a team leading receiver to a 141 YD guy who was out of a job after 2007. Branch, had a very up and down career with Seattle, as he played the back and forth game between the 2 teams – eventually faded into the land of nothing, with his best seasons, by far being when he was catching passes from Tom. Without question, no QB has achieved so much, with so little actual talent. That is the absolute truth of the matter. Putting together seasons of 4000+ YDs and 26+ TDs when his top target WRs were trash. There is no way anyone can disagree with those kind of numbers.

And of course carrying around career numbers of a 64% completion, 540+ TD passes, and 7 seasons of 30+ TD passes compared to Montana’s 63% completion, 273 TDs, and just one sole 30+ TD season – the comparison has been very debated across many football fans. Brady, in the playoffs has been nothing short of great as well, with 60+ TD passes and 9000+ passing YDs – nothing short but excellent. Bottom line – like him or dislike him – truth is – he has been a phenomenal QB.  And his comeback vs Atlanta in SB LI will go down as one of those legendary moments in football myth that people sit back and have Saturday night conversations about with their buddies, having a cold one.

We all witnessed the record setting historical comeback that was generated from Tom Brady during the LI Super Bowl vs the Atlanta Falcons. His team facing an embarrassing loss to the upstart Atlanta Falcons – Brady did what a Tom Brady does – completed 69% of his passes for 466 YDs and led his team to a historic 25pt comeback. It infuriated the haters – and fueled the fans. It was a genuine historic and incredible night of football, indeed.

Joe Montana has always been “the man” growing up for me – when football was won with guts and a pounding running game – but your QB won the games when the chips were down. They were the ones you just waited to unleash their incredible game winning skills all over the secondary’s of their opponents. “Joe Cool” was a once in a lifetime player – that fortunately, I was lucky enough to being able to watch play the game.

Montana was fortunate to have Jerry Rice – the guy who is – with reason – widely considered as the GOAT at the WR position. Having a HOF WR as your target isn’t so bad. When Brady had Randy Moss – they immediately set records with Moss running up 23 TDs on 160 targets. Having a HOF threat like either one is certainly going to push a player to immediately put up some great numbers. Joe has also had the opportunity to have some good RBs – and having some much higher rated RB help with Roger Craig. Brady has been fortunate to have Corey Dillon or Blount for a few random years – but other than that – he has also had Jonas Gray and Laurence Maroney as his RB1 on his Patriots teams.

Joe, at the end of the game, immediately the thought was always lurking around in the back of your head – knowing what was going to happen – “Joe Cool” was going to lead the Niners to the improbable win. As like Brady – if you weren’t a fan, you hated watching it happen – if you were a fan – you waited for the inevitable. Montana has had 33 GW drives in his legendary 15 seasons. Brady has put together 45 GW drives in 20 seasons. Looking at other QBs in their specific era – Joe was just so much better than the others. Dan Marino and Dan Fouts were both outstanding QBs with their big yards and their huge TD numbers. But when it came down to who you trusted… Joe was just always that guy.

Great confidence comes from any leader on the field – and these guys brought just that. Regardless of the situation – there was no doubt that regardless of the desperation of the situation – they could bring your team back. Hope was always there – waiting.

Tom Brady is still that guy. Yes he is older, yes he is in decline and in the golden years of his 20 year career. But there is absolutely no other QB – regardless of ones affiliation, who we wold have wanted on our team in this generation. He is the man we all want on our team. We want the screaming and his undying passion and hunger on the field to get his guys ready to fight until the final bell. In conclusion, Brady is the better QB of the 2 – we have witnessed the torch passed on from the former GOAT. Something I never really believed I would ever see. Maybe someday, as all comes around, we will see another QB 10-15-20 years down the road who will replace Brady and his legacy.

Brady’s ability to excel with the limited talent he has been surrounded by for many years – is the main ingredient as to why. With an immeasurable sense of confidence and his internal attitude to fight against all odds – Brady’s amazing combination of heart and skill has been proven to be too much to overcome.