Posted on 02/01/2008 4:38:28 PM PST by maddog55
Is Brady the best quarterback who ever played? NFL By John Powers The Boston Globe Published: February 1, 2008
PHOENIX, Arizona: Even now, after three rings and a season that is one victory shy of unprecedented perfection, the man shakes his head when you put him alongside Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw and the other immortals in the signal-calling pantheon. "Those guys, as far as I'm concerned, are in a league of their own," Tom Brady said.
And yet, if the New England Patriots beat the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII on Sunday night, their quarterback will join Montana and Bradshaw as the only four-time winners of football's ultimate game. And since a victory also would cap a flawless season, Brady could well be considered the best who has ever played.
"If Tom wins this game and is part of a team which went undefeated in 19 games, then it strengthens his argument," said the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, who won three Super Bowls and who lists Montana as his No. 1.
Comparing quarterbacks from different eras is an inexact science. Bradshaw and the Pittsburgh Steelers won their four titles in the 1970s, Montana and the San Francisco 49ers in the '80s. Since then, the NFL has added expansion teams, gone to free agency, adopted a salary cap and changed its scheduling to promote parity. Its players are bigger, stronger, and faster than ever.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
Perhaps not yet but he’s on track for best ever status. Farve is past the point of diminishing returns and is starting to hurt his “brand.”
I'll take Joe Montana of the 49ers and Otto Graham of the Browns far over Tom Brady.
Yes.
Orbital shinbone medical devices and thousands of hours of physical therapy.
Yes.
No.
Next.
He could be. Most of the others had better running backs. And until now better recievers.
the one who choked two weeks ago?
Montana and Young played for the 49 ers who fielded some amazing teams.
And the Pats also have played and beaten 7 playoff teams (one of them twice) and now have to beat another one that they just played 5 weeks ago.
They beat who was there to be beaten.
No but he’s done it with less talent on the offensive side of the ball. 2 consecutive 14 win seasons with tons of injuries, 12 wins last year without quality WRs and yet they just missed a SB.
He’s been dominant in his era. That’s really all you can measure a guy with. Sports writers are idiots.
How’s Payton doing after his latest 1 and out showing?
Alweays had a soft spot in my heart for Ole Number 60, but I never knew he was in a title game EVERY YEAR OF HIS PROFESSIONAL LIFE.
If he’d been born later, we’d be calling that piece of silver hardware the Otto Graham Trophy.
This illustrates how hard it is to rate the ‘best of all time’. I think Marino is a bit overrated by Miami fans, but no doubt if he had his own Jerry Rice (there can be only one) he would have a few SuperBowl rings of his own.
That's not necessarly true. The line always keeps Brady clean and their attack has always been pretty balanced between pass & run and they run effectively.
The Pats are just one hell of a team and have done it with different players which tells me that the coaching is supurb.
It’s too soon to say.
They have been the best TEAM for the decade, not the best collection of talent although they have had their share. This is the first year that Brady has had elite players on the offensive side of the ball (Givens and Branch were good while on the Pats but not great) and the results show. They are always well coached and the best prepared overall. BB has all of the personality and social acumen of an engineer but he and hos coaching staffs have been great.
No, he needed a defense in order to win. The Niners had good offensive skills but they had good defensive players as well. Ronnie Lott was a monster.
The same is true with just about all of the 'great teams'. Yes, the 'stars' were important, but it was generally the coaching that made them stars. In some ways BB reminds me on Chuck Knoll with the Steelers in the 70s. Andy Russel who was a great linebacker for that team tells a story. He had already been a top NFL linebacker when Knoll arrived in Pittsburgh (been to a couple of Pro-bowls and was respected around the league as one of the elite.) But Knoll looked at Russel and told him he was doing lots of things wrong even down to things like his stance. He retaught this seasoned pro how to play the game and made him an even better player and did the same with others especially the raw talent he drafted. He could take a gifted athlete and turn him into a great player.
Yes, you can say that Steelers were great because they had a dozen of Hall of Fame players on those teams, but the flip side of that is that most of those guys would have never been Hall of Famers if it weren't for the ability of a coach like Knoll to teach them to be their best.
I think we're seeing the same kind of thing with the Pats.
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