c_hawkbob wrote:I think the difference maker was (is) Brady. I think we can put the Brady or Belichick argument to bed.
RiverDog wrote:You took the words out of my mouth. I've always been of the opinion that Brady is a system quarterback, but he sure made a liar out of me this season. I still don't like the little prick, though. At least I have a clear favorite team in the Super Bowl this season.
c_hawkbob wrote:K had GB as well but am not surprised.
I think the difference maker was (is) Brady. I think we can put the Brady or Belichick argument to bed.
Aseahawkfan wrote:What Brady has done is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen in sports as far as career dominance. The closest comparison is Bill Russell winning 11 championships as a player coach in basketball.
Brady's Super Bowl and conference championship record is better than most dynastic teams in their entire history much less most NFL teams in their entire history. It's insane. I doubt I see it again in my lifetime.
RiverDog wrote:In World Series history, Mickey Mantle set records with 43 walks, 26 extra base hits, and 18 home runs, marks that will never be matched. In 116 years, the Yankees have made the post season 56 times. From 1949-1964, the Yankees were in the World Series in all but two seasons. Joe DiMaggio hit safely in 56 games, went hitless in his 57th game, then hit safely in another 15 consecutive games. The next longest hitting streak is 45 games. Ted Williams had a career batting average of .344 and hit 521 career home runs despite having nearly 5 years in the prime of his career taken out due to military service. I don't know about you, but that's some pretty eye popping numbers.
The kicker is that there were only 16 teams in MLB during those years, but nevertheless, those records, at the very least, rival what Tom Brady has accomplished.
RiverDog wrote:From 1964-1975, John Wooden's UCLA teams won 11 championships in 13 years, including 9 in a row, and there were over 100 teams competing for the title, plus he had players for just 3 years and couldn't pay them a dime.
Point is that there's more amazing athletic accomplishments than meets the eye. I don't like terms like GOAT or best ever as it's an apples vs. oranges comparisons. I prefer to leave it as best in the current era.
NorthHawk wrote:Brady did it all.
His OL was horrible and their Defense was a sieve. Throwing 3 interceptions and still winning (for the 3rd time in his playoff career btw) just proves how great he is.
He's a one man show, all right.
Aseahawkfan wrote:You use another comparison that will never be equaled. And that's exactly what Brady has done to this point.
RiverDog wrote:My point was that there's a lot of records/athletes that have achieved something that will never be equaled.
One of the things that irritated me the most was in 2000 when someone, sportswriters or whom ever, crowned Michael Jordan as the best professional athlete ever, with Babe Ruth 2nd. Apples and oranges.
Uppercut wrote:Back in the day I hated Muhammed Ali but as he backed up his talk and became the greatest ever he became my favorite athlete. I have gone through the same with Brady for the NFL anyway.
Aseahawkfan wrote:Yep. I don't even like Brady. He seems like a dick. Peyton Manning is a very likeable guy in interviews. Brady not so much.
Hawk Sista wrote:I hear ya North, I really do. In fact, there is a big part of me that wants to pile on with the # of ways he’s been lucky as I cannot stand him. The cheating, the poor sportsmanship, his smug self, etc. (what RD posted for us above is especially loathsome). As far as luck goes, look no further than SB 49. He was losing by 10 points in the 4th quarter and the DE who rag-dolled him all afternoon got injured and was out. The LOB was in BAD shape, too. And then, the play that shall not be named helped to build his legacy as it cemented a win for him and he wasn’t even on the field. (Though he may well have led the Pats to victory had scored a go-ahead TD there.)
But at the end of the day, they won. Brady won. Until this season, I was immovable on my “he’s the luckiest MFer in the world” stance. One could add to his list of lucky s#!+ this season by having a great D and a lot of really talented weapons. But c’mon…the dude is forty effin’ three, he had zero preseason time with a NEW team, he beat the favored Saints and the heavily favored Packers (in GB in January), and he is where he has always been. In the SB again, as a winner. As much as I hate to say it, Tom is the GOAT.
NorthHawk wrote:It's clear I don't think he's the GOAT, but he is the luckiest QB I can think of to ever play in the NFL.
Consider:
Selected by NE, a team on the rise at that time and not a team like the Browns.
Got to sit for part of the season and get a feel for the NFL before getting into a game when Bledsoe was injured.
Got the benefit of the "Tuck Rule" in his first playoff game which started the ball rolling for his success.
Was in a Division where in only a few years of his time in NE (I think 3 years) did another team challenge for the Division Championship and most years didn't even get to .500.
Had a very good to great OL in front of him most of the time.
Had basically the same Offense for his time in NE with a few tweaks.
Had a very good to great Defense for most of his career in NE.
That's just part of the good luck he's had. I wonder how good, but not great player like Alex Smith who had 7 different OC's and systems in 9 years would have done given that solid base
and early success without the pressure of being the 1st overall pick. Just about every other QB drafted has not had these advantages that Brady had or even just a few of
them and it's why I don't think he is the best nor can anyone truly compare QB's on an equal basis. I think he's a very good QB with all his experience, but not the best ever.
NorthHawk wrote:That's what I'm saying. We can't anoint a player as the greatest of all time when there is so much inequity in the comparisons.
For example we will never know how good Alex Smith might have been. We saw a glimpse after 1 year in KC with a great HC and system
as well as a strong group around him. I would suggest to you Smith has better tools to work with, he's a lot smarter than Brady in real life
(which may or may not translate to the field), but he never got an equal opportunity to really compare.
I think Brady is a very good QB, and well above average, but I also think players with a similar skill set were equally as good or maybe better.
I'm thinking P. Manning, maybe Eli Manning and Dan Marino off the top of my head. They would have thrived in the system in NE and maybe
even won more championships than Brady. And don't get me started on QBs that played when they called their own plays to compare with.
Those are impossible to compare with todays QBs.
Hawk Sista wrote:There seems to be a human need to rank things & people (athletes, artists, actors, etc...) and put them in some sort of logical order. This gives fodder to sports journalism and all of us to debate who the best and worst to ever x, y, or z is. To deny that luck, circumstance, and subjectivity play major roles in our conclusions is dishonest, which echoes your point that such exercises are meaningless. But, we all do it across the spectrum. So with that I’ll say again that we agree more than we disagree on this.
This is total horsecrap. There have been great QBs with better teams in history. Still didn't do what Brady did. Manning had plenty of great offenses and teams, still l couldn't get it done.
This is just you hating on Brady for reasons. Your argument is weak and could apply to any team that has done well. Yet they still didn't do as well as Brady.
I still think one of the biggest reasons Brady was as big a winner as he was was because he was willing to take less money to keep great players to win. Which was still very much his decision, his sacrifice to win more often. He knew he get paid other ways, so he took less to keep a better team around him. It paid off big. You don't give him credit for taking that lower salary all those years to have a better team.
Hawk Sista wrote:They won 11 games, North...but this was after winning 16 the year before with Tom. They did’t make the SB, AFC CG, or even the playoffs that year. And as you pointed out, they were feasting on the middling AFC East. My point is that this is one of few years that Tom didn’t go deep into the playoffs, and it’s because he tore his ACL. He has something truly unique, and while luck is undeniably a factor (as I’ve said, this is the case with everyone), he has already done more than any other QB in history, and he ain’t done yet.
If your point is that there is no way to have apples to apples comparisons for QBs, and ergo, there is no way to determine who is really the best - that is a legitimate position to take. But if we are doing this (meaning discussing who is the best QB ever), & we seem to be, I don’t know how you can land on any other name.
Hawk Sista wrote:Again, I hear you. Him being in the SB at 43 with a new team as the 6th seed doesn’t make you think as little?
Sure does.
He's a very good QB, I've always said that, but I don't believe he's the best ever and other than longevity, I don't think the evidence supports him being so.
obiken wrote:I agree NH I think Elway was the best, but he leads in the 2 most important stats, TD in a career, and Total Passing yardage. BTW, Scary stat for us Hawk fans, Mathew Stafford, 16th all time in both, with 0 weapons.
NorthHawk wrote:You'd think the Greatest of All Time would be a statistical leader in some ways, but it doesn't show.
Career Passer Rating - He's 7th (Mahomes, Watson, Rodgers, Wilson, Brees, and Cousins ahead
Pass Completion Percentage - He's 20th
Passing yards per attempt - Hes 35th
Passing interception Percentage - He's 5th
Touchdown pass percentage - He's 25th
Passing Touchdown/Interception Percentage - He's 4th
Touchdown Pass Percentage - He's 25th
Passing Touchdown/Interception Ratio - He's 4th
In many of these categories there are names that show up ahead of Brady quite frequently.
Rodgers is the most common player rated better, but Brees also shows up frequently.
So Greatest of All Time? Not justified. He's had great teams and coaching staffs around him, and that's just good fortune.
I got this info from footballdb.com
https://www.footballdb.com/leaders/care ... pletionpct
Hawk Sista wrote:Again, I hear you. Him being in the SB at 43 with a new team as the 6th seed doesn’t make you think as little?
0 weapons? One of his zero weapons was inducted into the Hall of Fame on the first try and is one of the best WRs to ever do it. He had Megatron for seven years. That is not 0 weapons. That is one of the most freak WR athletes in NFL history. Megatron is why I love DK Metcalf so much. DK is a slightly lesser version of Megatron.
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