Last Sunday, millions watched as Tom Brady led the New England Patriots to the greatest comeback in the history of sports to win the greatest Super Bowl of all time. This earned Brady his fifth ring and, at least in my opinion, the title of greatest quarterback to ever play the game. Now before a war breaks out in the comments section of this article, keep in mind the criteria for which I am basing my argument. While some base greatness solely on team success or solely on career statistics, I am basing mine on a combination of the two. Whether you like it or not, and as a lifelong Jets fan I certainly don’t, Tom Brady is the best there has ever been.
In terms of team success, Brady is in uncharted territory. Five super bowl rings and a four-time Super Bowl MVP is something no one has ever done before. Credit should also be given to Bill Belichick and the entire Patriots team over the years in their runs of success, but Brady has never been carried by his team. In fact, at times it has been quite the contrary, with Brady taking average receivers and turning them into the elite of the game.
With Brady being head and shoulders above the rest in terms of team success, now we examine his statistics. In career passing yards and passing touchdowns, Tom currently sits at four on both lists behind Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, and Drew Brees (who is criminally underrated in my opinion but that’s another story for another day). With Manning and Favre both retired, and Brady and Brees showing no signs of slowing down, Brady should finish his career at number two in both lists considering Brees still has plenty of gas left in the tank throwing for over 5,000 yards just this past season. However, Brady has the edge on the men in front of him on those lists in both completion percentage, passer rating, and he has also thrown fewer interceptions, much less. Brady has only thrown 152 picks in his career, of those three men in front of him, next is Brees with 220 and he’ll throw many more before his career ends.
Whether or not Brady’s greatness stands the test of time remains to be seen. Aaron Rodgers is still piling up fantastic numbers with a good chunk of his prime still to come. Not to mention this sport will always see countless young stars rival the greatness of the ones who came before them. However as it stands right now, Tom Brady stands alone as the greatest quarterback ever.
