Tom Brady is The GOAT
Who's the Greatest Of All Time? Brady? Montana? If there was an doubt, it's all gone.
Joe Montana AKA Joe Cool
There were still doubters. "Well, Monata went 4-4 so you know, he never lost a Superbowl". Yeah, and what about all those other times when he didn't even make it? God that's the dumbest argument I've ever heard. "Well you know, Brady's been to like, what 5 now but uh, he's only won 5 of them and losing 2 is like a big deal". Just making it to the Superbowl is a feat in and of itself. So what you're saying is you're punishing a guy for getting there and losing, but not punishing the guy at all for not making it? That's messed up.
Tom Brady has now won 5-7 Superbowls. His first win came in 2002 against The St. Louis Rams. Since then The Patriots have beaten The Panthers, The Eagles, lost to The Giants twice, and then beaten The Seahawks and The Falcons.
I'm not going to get into the numbers, the minutiae, the passing yards, or MVP awards. Off the top of your head, name the best player Tom Brady has ever played with, ever. Whose name came up? Randy Moss? Rob Gronkowski?
Julian Edelman was picked in the 7th round of the draft. Who would he be without Bill Belichick and Tom Brady?
Dan Powers-USA TODAY Sports
Now, off the top of your head, name the best player Montana ever played with. Jerry Rice. Name the best wide receiver in football ever. Jerry Rice. Did Rice make Montana or did Montana make Rice? Both. The 49rs also had an excellent coach in Bill Walsh.
Jerry Rice, the GOAT receiver
Was Walsh as good as Belichick is now? Probably not. Tough to compare coaches but Belichick has shown incredible clock management, salary cap management, (by the way the salary cap did not exist during Monata's years) or the ability to win with other guys. Without Brady Belichick has won with Matt Cassell, Jimmy Garropolo, and Jacoby Brissett. I'm getting off track.
The Helmet Catch made by David Tyree
Brady has been on track. For every tuck rule, there's a David Tyree helmet catch. For every Julian Edelman how did he catch that ball amidst a pile of arms and legs there's an over the shoulder Mario Manningham catch. In every sport whether it's a funny hop in the infield, a half court shot, or a hail Mary there's a moment. There's a missed field goal. There's a blocked kick which happened earlier in the game. There's a pass interference call. Random shit happens.
But what's not random is repeatedly making it to the Superbowl. Finishing in the playoffs consistently is not random. Demanding excellence is not random. Not drinking a drop of alcohol during football season is not random. Brady didn't become great during the games. He built greatness through work habits. Through watching tape. He's become so learned and practiced he reads the defense and already knows where the ball is going before the play even happens. That's why The Patriots say it all comes down to execution and doing your job. If they execute properly, they can rely on #12 to do his job too.
Montana is awesome; I'm not taking anything away from him. He's Joe Cool. He's the Comeback Kid. But Brady completed one of the most amazing comebacks in all of sports ever. On the biggest stage. No Malcolm Butler to bail him out this time. No tuck rule. No Bethel Johnson returning a kickoff for a touchdown. Last night's game was different. It was Brady and a bunch of guys who were drafted late, not drafted at all, signed for next to nothing and who knows what else.
In sports history we have a tendency to be biased in the present. It's sacrilegious to name someone the GOAT while they're still playing. People do it every day comparing LeBron James with Michael Jordan. We've been doing it with Brady and Montana. I'm not saying LeBron is the greatest yet, but we need to start considering it. People always want to say, "NO IT'S JORDAN IT'S NOT AN ARGUMENT". Well clearly when sports broadcaster, current basketball players, former basketball players and others are bringing up LeBron, it is an argument. Clearly when Brady was being mentioned with Montana 2 years ago winning 4-6 coming off that win against Seattle it became an argument.
Now there is no argument. There is no room for doubt.
