The GOAT
Tom Brady is officially the GOAT. Not goat, but GOAT. Greatest of All Time. There were some questions still lingering about that leading into Super Bowl XLIX, but he answered them all for us.
What Tom Brady and the New England Patriots did yesterday in the 4th Quarter sums up why he’s the best to ever play the position. Down 10 points in the 4th against one of the best defenses ever, probably the best secondary ever in Seattle’s LOB–no problem–two drives, two touchdown passes, including a record-breaking fourth Super Bowl game-winning drive. Brady is a star who truly shines the brightest when the stakes are the highest–and that’s what makes him the best ever.
Brady has been to six Super Bowls–most ever. He’s won four–most ever (tied with Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw). He has 13 Super Bowl TD passes–most ever. He’s been Super Bowl MVP three times–most ever (tied with Montana). He also holds the Super Bowl records for most attempts, completions and yards as well. No one has performed better on the big stage than the all-American boy, Tom Brady. No one. Not even Montana.
Some of you who apparently don’t value winning championships as much as stats and hype will want to argue that Peyton Manning is the best. Peyton is amazing, but he struggles to lead his team to big victories, even when the stats are there. Clutch performances are what set the best apart from the rest. Michael Jordan certainly wasn’t the best shooter ever, but who wouldn’t want him taking the game-winning shot in any situation? Who’s gonna argue he wasn’t the greatest player ever? No one with a brain. Why? Because he won ALL the big games. He rose to the occasion in all the big moments. Peyton got embarrassed by this exact same Seahawks team in last year’s Super Bowl. He did beat Rex Grossman for his sole Super Bowl victory for whatever that’s worth–which isn’t much. I’m a Redskins fan and Grossman spent several years buried behind mediocre QB play in Washington, so trust me on that.
If you want to get into regular season stats and all that, there’s an argument for Peyton, but that’s not what makes greatness. Greatness is determined by a combination of championships, performance in those championships and consistency of high level play throughout your career. I think we’ve thoroughly covered Brady’s dominance on the big stage of the Super Bowl, let’s take a look at his overall career regular season and playoff stats compared to Peyton, the regular season monster, and Montana, the clutch performer:
Regular Season
- 53,258 passing yards (5th all-time)
- Peyton is no. 2, Montana no. 13
- 4,551 completions (5th all-time)
- Peyton is no. 2, Montana no. 12
- 392 TD passes (5th all-time)
- Peyton is no. 1, Montana no. 11
- 95.9 Passer Rating (5th all-time)
- Peyton is no. 3, Montana no. 10
- 46 Game-winning Drives (no. 3 all-time)
- Peyton is no. 1, Montana no. 10
- 2.0% INT percentage (no. 2 all-time)
- Peyton and Montana are tied at no. 18
Playoffs (where the greatest become the greatest)
- 7,345 passing yards (no. 1 all-time)
- Peyton is no. 2, Montana no. 4
- 683 completions (no. 1 all-time)
- Peyton is no. 2, Montana no. 4
- 53 TD passes (no. 1 all-time)
- Montana is no. 2, Peyton no. 4
- 89.0 Passer Rating (no. 12 all-time)
- Montana is no. 6, Peyton no. 14
- 9 Game-winning Drives (no. 1 all-time)
- Montana is no. 3, Peyton didn’t make the list at all as he only has 1
- INT percentage wasn’t a valuable stat for playoffs as it included loads of players who only played in a few playoff games and didn’t throw any picks. It had Brady at no. 30, Peyton no. 35 and Montana no. 43.
Montana, outside of the most important stat covered earlier–Super Bowl victories and Super Bowl MVPs–doesn’t seem to stack up with Brady and Peyton, until you remember this is a much more pass-happy and QB-friendly league than the one Montana played in 20 years earlier.
Everything taken into account–stats, wins, Super Bowls, MVPs, leadership, longevity, consistency, clutch performance, etc.–here’s my list:
- Tom Brady
- Joe Montana
- Peyton Manning
Comment and vote below!
