With quarterbacks the talking point of Super Bowl XLVI, where does New England Patriots captain Tom Brady sit when you discuss who is the NFL’s best ever quarterback to throw the pigskin?
In just a few days time in Indianapolis, Brady will be vying for his fourth Super Bowl ring in his fifth time to the big dance.
When he takes to the field against the New York Giants, Brady will equal Denver great and current Executive VP of Football Operations of the Broncos John Elway as the only quarterback to make it to five Super Bowls.
If the Patriots are successful against the underdog Giants, then he will tie San Francisco and Kansas City star Joe Montana and former Pittsburgh quarterback, Terry Bradshaw.
Brady has done it all 0 he has the trophies and every accolade a player could wish for.
After being selected by the Patriots in the 2000 NFL Draft in round six with pick 199, Brady has gone on to start ten seasons – half of that time spent leading his team in Super Bowl battles.
The former University of Michigan quarterback has made the playoffs his own time. He has the most wins of any other quarterback and a percentage over .750. Montana, Bradshaw, Elway, Brett Favre and Troy Aikman, among a long list of greats, sit behind the Pats number 12.
Brady’s percentage although not the highest, ranks up there with Bart Starr – one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks ever.
Interestingly, Starr (selected and coached by Vince Lombardi) was drafted in the 17th round – he won five NFL championships and two Super Bowl as well as the first two Super Bowl MVP awards.
This weekend in Super Bowl XLVI Brady will notch up 40,000 yards (currently on 39,979 yards) and in doing so, join another list of greats to do so. How quick he gets to 40,000 yards depends on how well he can get by the Giants defense.
The New York Giants know how to play the future hall of famer – they did beat him in 2008 – Super Bowl XLII when the Patriots were full steam ahead and gunning for a championship-undefeated season. Furthermore, they beat him in week nine of the regular season.
In that game, the Giants sacked Brady twice, intercepted him twice and caused a fumble. He will face that very pressure this weekend.
In your eyes, if Brady and the Patriots are victorious in the biggest game of the year, where does he rank against Montana, Johnny Unitas, Otto Graham, Starr, Dan Marino, Steve Young and Brett Favre?
R.Will
Guest
Brady, had he a respectable secondary in the last bowl, would already be at 4 wins. Strangely enough, his secondary in this bowl will also be pretty determinative, rather than his own play. This serves to emphasize the fact that it is a team sport.
Jimbo
Guest
It's a good offense no doubt, but apart from Randy Moss, Brady has never really had any superstars to throw the ball to. Wes Welker is merely very good, Branch solid, and I suppose in the next few years Gronk could become great, but he has the ability to turn average receivers into weapons.
ItsCalledFootball
Roar Guru
Brady will have a better day if Gronkowski gets on the field. http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/Madonna-calls-out-Rob-Gronkowski-New-England-Patriots-over-Super-Bowl-ankle-injury-020212 Brady's a great player and sits behind a very good offense, but somehow I don't rate him as an all time great. Looking forward to the game.
mushi
Guest
The two big problems I have with this yard stick, which gets used in every sport so not having a crack, is for starters it makes a mockery out of the team concept. To use championships as the metric you must be of the mind set that only 1 player matters the other 21 guys on the field are useless space eaters at the mercy of the one great footballing god… the QB. If the other players matter and the game is actually a team game then one player can not be measured by his teams failures and successes. This was my frustration at the Tebow mania (and I’m a broncos fan) the Denver Broncos won the games not Tebow. His contribution in parts were great but I feel like he also was a negative for much of that stretch and the play of his team allowed him to get away with it. The second is that one game, no matter how important, is not a fair representation of a career. Ass you said the guy has suited up for ten years as a starter Sunday will represent less than 1% of his total football played. Regardless of if Brady wins or losses on Sunday in my mind he will still be Tom Brady arguably the best QB of his era (personally I’d take Manning but meh it is splitting hairs) To me what Brady represents is the biggest example of how the situation and team create a Quarterback’s career. Even now Brady is comparatively poor under pressure (of the pass rush kind not the “moment” kind) I strongly doubt he would have developed into the player he is now if his first 16 starts had been spent as a rookie behind a swiss cheese line and poor receivers. When learning anything having the ability to be able to fail with confidence is critical and NE and Bill (even if he is the devil) gave him. There is a bit about this in the Blindside (the book not the movie) about did Bill Walsh need Joe Montana to become the Bill Walsh we have today or was it the other way around.