Tom Brady is an aggressively mediocre quarterback who is the mere product of a system and would not be successful anywhere besides the Bill Belichick-coached Patriot teams he has been on. It is crazy to me that people label him the greatest football player of all time merely as a result of his image. No one really bats an eye at this assessment.
I do not equate accomplishment with being considered the “Greatest of All Time.” The “GOAT” should be the most skilled athlete to ever play — especially in a sport like football, which is the ultimate team game. Only using Super Bowl wins as an indicator of grandeur is ridiculous.
When you look at Tom Brady, he is a late-round draft pick with an average arm and below-average athleticism. Nothing he does jumps out and screams “GOAT.” He has played for a long time on a number of skilled teams with the greatest coach to ever live, so he holds a lot of accolades. No one can take that away from him, but, again, these accolades do not equate to him being the most talented quarterback ever.
That often leads people to fall back on the “rings” argument. Other quarterbacks — like Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees — are undoubtedly more talented players, but have played on worse football teams than Brady was fortunate enough to be on.
Not to mention, Brady has only played for one coach, one owner, and alongside historically great players (like Rob Gronkowski and Randy Moss) and defenses (he has had a defense ranked outside the top ten only three times in 17 seasons).
I find it a far more impressive feat that Peyton Manning was able to win two Super Bowls with two different teams and succeed with a myriad of different coaches. Stability garners success and Brady has had that his whole career.
For the first few years of Brady’s career, he was a glorified “Game Manager” — not nearly someone anyone would have thought of as the “GOAT.” He threw for 145-total yards in his first Super Bowl and won. He has consistently had poor-to-average playoff performances and has been dragged to victories by his team. The stats (which would be too long, and I presume boring, to list here) prove this. He has had some good games sprinkled in, but he is not this “untouchable” and “clutch” quarterback people paint him out to be.
In 2008, Tom Brady tore his ACL and missed the entire season. His backup was Matt Cassel, a quarterback who had not completed a pass since high school because he was a backup his entire college career. Cassel led the Patriots to an 11–5 record and was top 10 in touchdown passes and passer rating. It must be noted that the Patriots were 16–0 the year prior, but they lost a few key players. I am not trying to argue that Cassel is equal to Brady, but instead, show that the system the Patriots have makes it easy for the quarterback to succeed. Cassel did not have any notable seasons after he left the Patriots.
I would add that it is hard for me to envision Brady succeeding anywhere else but New England. Obviously, this cannot be quantified, but I would say this: how many great 6th round quarterbacks have there been in modern NFL history? No one too notable.
Brady was drafted in that position because he was simply a sixth-round talent, and it is hard for me to believe that this decent college quarterback just transformed into this great talent. That just doesn’t happen.
Finally, greatness should leave no room for doubt. Brady’s career has been riddled with what-if plays. The Tuck rule, the Seahawks not running the ball, and just last year, Dee Ford of the Chiefs lined up four inches offsides when Brady threw a game-losing pick (there was a flag, the interception did not count, and the Patriots went on to win).
Tom Brady is not a bad player by any means, but should not be lumped into the “GOAT” conversation.
