Why Tom Brady can't match quarterback legends like Elway, Montana and Marino
 

After his Super Bowl XLll disappointment, the New England Patriots star's place in NFL history has been left open to question.

One of the big questions in the run-up to Super Bowl XLII was whether Tom Brady of the New England Patriots is the greatest quarterback ever. After his performance in Sunday night's 17-14 stunning defeat by the New York Giants, it is clear to any unbiased pro football fan that he is not.

To even mention Brady's name in the same breath as NFL legends John Elway, Terry Bradshaw or Joe Montana at this stage of his career is a stretch. To his credit, Brady is an excellent manager of the game with an uncanny ability to avoid mistakes. Only 30 years of age, his list of accomplishments is long and impressive, the most notable, of course, being his three Super Bowl victories (XXXVI, XXXVIII, and XXXIX), two Super Bowl MVP awards (XXXVI and XXXVIII), four Pro Bowl invitations and the NFL record for most touchdown passes in a single regular season.

If you want to judge the greatness of a quarterback on Super Bowl victories alone, the book is still open on Brady. But if you look at the record of Super Bowl QBs, Brady can now no longer stand beside Joe Montana or Terry Bradshaw as their equal. With his team’s defeat on Sunday, Brady is now 3-1 in Super Bowls. Both Montana and Bradshaw were 4-0.

The loss also cost Brady the chance of leading a team to an undefeated season. That incredible feat could have ended this debate, but now the Patriots join the 1984 San Francisco 49ers, 1985 Bears, 1998 Minnesota Vikings and the 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers, who were all 15-1.

One can argue that Brady’s success can be found in the fact he has been blessed to be coached by one of the greatest coaches to ever walk an NFL sideline, Bill Belichick. Coach Belichick has the unique ability to take skilled players with troubled pasts and help them fulfill their potential and to turn many average players into great players. This can also be applied to Brady himself. It is almost hard to imagine Brady being where he is without Belichick.

This has led to Brady being a part of extremely good football teams. In this regard, he is no different to Joe Montana was with the 49ers, Troy Aikmen with the Cowboys or Bradshaw with the Steelers. But if you strip away the talent around Brady, is there still greatness? Would he be able to equal the success of Dan Marino, who shattered the record book with inferior teams? Or be even close to doing as well as Elway did early in his career when he literally carried his team on his back? I would argue the answer is no, due to his overall lack of physical tools.

In terms of greatness, one must look at the physical attributes a quarterback possesses. This area is often overlooked by Brady supporters and is his weakest link. Brady is a classic pocket passer who relies heavily on his offensive line for success. This was evident in Super Bowl XLII, when his offensive line broke down. He simply did not have the ability to avoid the pass rush and make things happen.

He is extremely slow, which does not give him the option of making plays with his legs, and only has average arm strength. In comparison with other NFL greats, it is clear Brady does not measure up. He lacks the quick release of Marino, the scrambling ability of Elway and the arm strength of Brett Favre.

It is clear that Brady is the best quarterback of his era, with Payton Manning a close second. He was lucky to be drafted by the Patriots and has made the most of it with hard work and the tutelage of Belichick. But his inferior physical skills compared to other NFL greats, and the complete lack of a proven record of being able to carry an average or bad team on his back to success, eliminates him from ranking alongside Montana or Marino or Elway or Johnny Unitas or Otto Graham as the greatest quarterback of all time.

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But his inferior physical skills compared to other NFL greats, and the complete lack of a proven record of being able to carry an average or bad team on his back to success, eliminates him from ranking alongside Montana or Marino or Elway or Johnny Unitas or Otto Graham as the greatest quarterback of all time.


nuff said ...

Guy has a lot of football to play.

I don't think there will be any question his name belongs with the names on this list if not better.

That doesn't even make sense. The '84 49ers & '85 Bears went 18-1 and the '98 Vikings & '04 Steelers went 16-2. How are the 4 of those teams equal?

It wasn't Brady who lost the S bowl. He did his job well.

It was the Patriot defense -- that could not stop Manning.

Deja Vu

Well, true, but Tommy also had a hurt ankle. He was not as mobile as he.....wait. Was he ever considered top be a mobile QB? Or is he a good arm sitting behind an Oline that hardly ever gets called for holding? Maybe the Oline was exceptional all year, but wore down in the SB?

It is all so confusing.......

Opinions are like armpits. Everyone has two......

bill walsh called tom brady the most mobile qb in the NFL.

Marino? What did he ever win? Must have meant Bradshaw here huh?

Saying Brady has only average arm strength is quite ignorant.

Of course this dip**** can't even spell Peyton Manning.

but hey Pay ton or Payaton is about right ..

This article rags on Brady for playing well because of the talent around him yet brings up Montana and Bradshaw who had some of the most talented teams around them that the NFL has ever seen, and two of the best coaches ever as well. Both Elway and Marino seem to be about the only QB's that could actually make an average team great, but Marino never won a SB and it wasn't until Elway got an extremely talented team around him that he was able to win a SB.

Bottom line, no QB wins a SB without a great team around them, not just Tom Brady. Not saying that Tom Brady is as great as stupid @$$ ESPN makes him out to be, but its unfair to bash him because he has a great team/coach to play with.

/agree ..... he is a hella of a qb ... and agree with all your points on the team thing , but he is not Elway or noringo "Marino" as far as god given gifts ... neither was Joe or Terry physically gifted they had unreal teams .... Dan or John would have won 6 rings on those teams ....

haha 6 rings now? the absurdist rhetoric just feeds off itself. why stop at 6? elway woulda won 17 rings, never won a game by fewer than 20 points and single handedly saved a small boy from a fire.

WON 6 RINGS
sarcasm my bad

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm

I'm as much of a Brady-hater as the next guy, but this post reeks of ignorance. "Brady hasn't elevated a bad or average team to greatness" and "Belicheck makes bad or average players great" statements made me laugh. The 15-1 statement made me cry.

Let me let you in on a little secret. No one really thinks Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback ever. They talk about it and pay it lip service, but no one really thinks that. Even Patriot fans would rather have Elway or Montana than Brady. They just talk about it on tv and radio because they have to have something to talk about, and Randy Moss apparently has turned into Mr. Belvedere.

You win 3 Superbowls you get to be mentioned with the all time greats.

I would guess Dragondawg has taken this article from someone else but it is a complete joke. Brady had one of the best years to date as a QB. He has won 3 rings and if you want to compare stats, look no farther than our great John Elway. His Super Bowl stats were pretty dismal including vs the Packs. Only his Atlanta game stood out for what we saw John do throughout his career. Brady has done wonders in a very short time in his career. I wont knock him down because of this game. Seems many of you forgot what Elway went through in those horrible blow outs.

/ponder .... not sure bout all that ...

But I think after spygate you have to put an asterisk next to those Cheatriot championships.

Are you kidding?? The Patriots defense held the Giants to 17 points. That is more than reasonable. Brady did NOT do his job well. 14 points will win VERY few game in the NFL.

Whomever wrote this article definitely has "an agenda." Why even write this crap?

I hate Brady more than the average fan, but how can you take away from his accomplishments? I loathe the Patriots, but do you think they would have won those superbowls if they had kept Bledsoe? Tom Brady was the right guy, on the right team, at the right time. He has earned his accolades, and late evenings with supermodels. I can't stand the guy, but I don't know how you could have an all time Top Ten QB list without his name on it. He has earned that much.

I will always choose Elway because he's my type of guy. Someone else might like their QB dressing up in furs for a cologne ad - they can have Brady. But, the "below average skills" argument falls flat. That should make his achievements even more impressive (kind of like Rod Smith).

BTW - I also disagree with the best QB of this era. I will always remember Peyton as the best QB of this era. I just don't think anyone out there understands and plays the game as well as he does. He has a much better chance of "smashing all the records" then Brady.

this was with regards to shifting in the pocket, of which he is one of the best.

He's one game away from being on the same level as Bradshaw and Montana, but now that he's 3-1 he's a mediocre quarterback on a good team who will never amount to anything good because of average physical skills. I don't really buy into that.

brady did not lose that game.That o line got biatchslapped. brady played well despite running for his life the whole game.