After the New England Patriots epic 34-28 comeback win over the Atlanta Falcons, Tom Brady captured a record-breaking fifth Super Bowl championship. With a career 97.2 quarterback rating, 12 Pro Bowl appearances, seven Super Bowl appearances, and two MVP awards–many are saying Brady is the greatest quarterback of all-time. But critics argue Brady owes most of his success to coach Bill Belichick, and scandals like Spygate and Deflategate tarnished his legacy. What do you think? [?]
PERSPECTIVES
On paper, Brady is easily one of the most accomplished quarterbacks of all-time. Now he has more Super Bowl rings than Joe Montana. He’s also a four-time Super Bowl MVP, two-time All-Pro selection, two-time offensive player of the year, comeback player of the year and was elected to the all-decade team. He’s got the honors…
… but he was also suspended for the first four games of the season for his role in Deflategate. And Brady is at the center of a team dogged by sporting scandals. Haters say all of that shifty organizational behavior has tarnished Brady’s legacy–not to mention that Brady’s replacements have managed to play just as well in Bill Belichick’s scheme. His harshest critics will say he’s just a byproduct of all-time great coaching. Even Montana was able to win outside of the 49ers franchise.
What do you think?
Every record Tom Brady broke in his fifth Super Bowl win >>
But let’s get real. Brady didn’t just win his fifth Super Bowl ring, he played the greatest football game ever. No one has come from behind like that in Super Bowl history. But Brady did. It’s easy to hate on Brady because his personality is brash and his behavior is polarizing. The Patriots organization can also be shifty. But we need to appreciate what he just did and award him his natural place as the greatest of all-time.
Brady, like the rest of us, has his flaws. He can be teased for underinflating footballs, dogged for evading questions about his pal Donald Trump and doubted for decisions in his personal life made when he was younger. But he is an impregnable competitor. He took a beating Sunday night and faced certain doom and, at that moment, at age 39, played quarterback at a level rarely attained before.
But behavior matters. Anyone who is awarded the greatest should be able to demonstrate that they are the difference-maker on offense and can remain calm under pressure. Brady has never truly won without the coaching of Bill Belichick or a Pro Bowl defense behind him. In fact, he’s collapsed under pressure several times throughout his 16-year career. He lost two Super Bowls to the Giants. And more importantly, he hasn’t proven he can win on his own and fairly. You can’t be GOAT with an asterisk, and Deflategate, Spygate, etc. will always give critics enough ammo to question Brady’s character.
There is another legendary QB with four rings (Joe Montana) and a handful of Hall of Famers with two or three rings (Steve Young, Troy Aikman, Peyton Manning, for some examples). Those guys earned rings without the constant accusations of cheating, which should be worth something in the argument of “greatest ever.”
Here are some perspectives from people who think Brady is the greatest of all-time.
Someone just tried telling me Tom Brady isn’t the GOAT… They salty. Get em Tom pic.twitter.com/HQYEk9fWeD
— Tommy Pickles (@MikeTankHanna) February 6, 2017
Tom Brady is goat of qbs, officially. Time to say greatest player of any sport?
— Cameron Dreyfus (@CamDrey09) February 6, 2017
Tom Brady should start a shoe line and name it GOAT
— $0.25 Champ (@ahawk3000) February 6, 2017
Tom Brady is not only easily the best quarterback ever. He’s the best player ever
— Brady=GOAT (@NE_Thrash) February 6, 2017
Here are some perspectives from people who think Brady is just overrated garbage. [?] [?]
Can y’all stop acting like Tom Brady singlehandedly won the super bowl, he is the most overrated trump-loving jar of mayonnaise
— jacqui (@the_Jacqueen) February 6, 2017
Tom Brady stinks when he gets pressured. S T I N K S. May be the most overrated player in NFL history. Still time though.
— John Steigerwald (@Steigerworld) February 6, 2017
Tom Brady M.O.A.T most overrated of all time
— Kyle Black (@sixpackblack) February 6, 2017
The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Digital, Inc. property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt or on Facebook, we’d love to hear what you have to say.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
