Tom Brady-The Greatest of His Era, Not All-Time

[george c]

Brady is the greatest of all time. No way to see it any other way unless you are blinded by petty homerism.

 

He's won more superbowls than any other QB in history. Just because the modern era rules made it easier on a QB doesn't make it any easier to beat the other 31 teams playing by the same rules.

Well said.

[Mr. WEO]

 

 

I think you are valuing "HOF" receivers to be a lot more important than they actually are. I see that all the time on these forums where it seems like the only position people want good players at is WR and if you dont have that you dont have a chance, not true. The Pats show you that. Jerry Rice is the exception, he was remarkable. While Harrison and Wayne are HOF worthy, that is a product of Manning, I bet they dont make the HOF if they played somewhere else, like say Buffalo. The Pats have a different offensive philosophy that does not favor having one or two great WR's. In all of Brady's Super Bowls he had talent to throw to.

 

 

 

You can't say that and expect anyone to take you seriously in this discussion. Wayne and Harrison (and Rice) are not "products" of their QB. They are innately great receivers. Welker (and Edelman) were created by Brady. Neither is going to the HOF. In his one season with a future HOF WR, Brady broke records.

 

You have left off some important factors such as coaching, OL, defense, special teams.

 

All told, which career would you rather have, play for Belicheck the whole time with the great defenses, running game discipline or play for 5 coaches with lackluster defenses and OL most of the time? Brady has done more with more when you look at the whole picture.

 

 

No, he hasn't. Brady runs the offense. He hasn't had a WR or a RB play their entire career (or nearly so) with him--and play at a HOF candidate level like Manning did in Indy. Manning also had a top 10 D backing him up in 3 of his 7 years with Dungy in Indy.

[ExiledInIllinois]

I still think you can't even come close to comparing qbs today with those of the old days. The qbs today are so not in control of the game like they used to be. Puppets on a string, controlled by the coaches and the voice in their headsets. IMO, Brady is the classic example, he's never called the game on his own... Always looking at the wrist band, cheat sheet and decoding what is ordered to him in his helmet's headset.

 

This goes for all modern qbs the last 15 years in the wireless tech era. Maybe only Peyton was a link to the old "seat of the pants" quarterbacking of the old days... And that's a stretch.

 

It is like a comparing pilots of different eras. One's that flew by seat of pants or the one's that can get the big bird up into the sky & back down again on an electronic beam.

 

The game is so different, it simply isn't fair to compare to past players who had to use more natural ability. Again, this goes for all modern qbs. Brady, with his cocaches, etc... Has of course mastered the art of the system & cheat sheet better than all others. That I will give him credit for.

[HT02]

If Tom Brady were drafted in 1984, in a different era, where QB's weren't coddled, there is no way in hell that Brady would be in the shape, 16-17 years into his career that he is today. His body would have broken down at least some and he wouldn't be the player he is right now.

 

Joe Montana was 4-0 in Super Bowls and won 4 in 9 years. If he wasn't injured in the 1990 NFC Championship game against the 49ers, he probably would have been 5-0 with 5 in 10 years.

 

I know people were in a hurry to anoint Brady after the last Super Bowl, but if you take a step back and really look at the thing, there are QB's who have been just as impressive if not more with respect to their era. What would Dan Marino's career have looked like if he was drafted into the NFL in the year 2000?

 

Tom Brady is definitely one of the greatest QB's of all-time and the best of his era, but as far as I am concerned what Montana did in the era he played in was more impressive.

Couldn't agree with you more! The other thing I like to point out is that Brady has made a living off these quick over the middle passes. Imagine for a moment he had played in the 70's and Mel Blount, Jack Tatum, George Atkinson, LC Greenwood and co, had been waiting for the receivers playing under those rules. Wes Welker and Edleson and even Gronk

wouldn't have lasted one year in the league making those type of catches

[Mr. WEO]

I still think you can't even come close to comparing qbs today with those of the old days. The qbs today are so not in control of the game like they used to be. Puppets on a string, controlled by the coaches and the voice in their headsets. IMO, Brady is the classic example, he's never called the game on his own... Always looking at the wrist band, cheat sheet and decoding what is ordered to him in his helmet's headset.

 

This goes for all modern qbs the last 15 years in the wireless tech era. Maybe only Peyton was a link to the old "seat of the pants" quarterbacking of the old days... And that's a stretch.

 

It is like a comparing pilots of different eras. One's that flew by seat of pants or the one's that can get the big bird up into the sky & back down again on an electronic beam.

 

The game is so different, it simply isn't fair to compare to past players who had to use more natural ability. Again, this goes for all modern qbs. Brady, with his cocaches, etc... Has of course mastered the art of the system & cheat sheet better than all others. That I will give him credit for.

 

Huh?

 

The sidelines have been calling in plays for decades. Kelly was notable as one of the few QBs of his era who called his own plays the majority of the time.

[ExiledInIllinois]

 

Huh?

 

The sidelines have been calling in plays for decades. Kelly was notable as one of the few QBs of his era who called his own plays the majority of the time.

And qbs were mocked for wearing cheat sheets, wrist bands. Vince Ferragamo comes to mind.

 

Modern qbs have a much, much shorter leash, yet easier cheats at their disposal.

 

Ditka called/signaled in plays too... How well did that work for him?

Edited March 16, 2017 by ExiledInIllinois

[Mr. WEO]

And qbs were mocked for wearing cheat sheets, wrist bands. Vince Ferragamo comes to mind.

 

Modern qbs have a much, much shorter leash, yet easier cheats at their disposal.

 

Ditka called/signaled in plays too... How well did that work for him?

 

 

So what? The point is that QBs having regularly been calling plays for generations.

 

Ditka did it poorly. Walsh and his staff did it much better.

[Iron Maiden]

And qbs were mocked for wearing cheat sheets, wrist bands. Vince Ferragamo comes to mind.

 

Modern qbs have a much, much shorter leash, yet easier cheats at their disposal.

 

Ditka called/signaled in plays too... How well did that work for him?

 

You do realize that once a play is called, Brady has to come up to the line, analyze the defense and make the correct call.....each play sent in has probably 4-5 different options...it's one of Brady's strength to read the D and take advantage of what they give you....teams have tried to disguise it for 17 years and he comes up on top 90% of the time.....

[ExiledInIllinois]

 

You do realize that once a play is called, Brady has to come up to the line, analyze the defense and make the correct call.....each play sent in has probably 4-5 different options...it's one of Brady's strength to read the D and take advantage of what they give you....teams have tried to disguise it for 17 years and he comes up on top 90% of the time.....

Or else his helmet doesn't shut off after 15 seconds... LoL

 

Hello, hello... Is this thing on?

~Signed, Doug Flutie

[cd1]

Sometimes I read through threads and wonder how much of the opinion is based on the AGE of the poster.

 

THIS is one of those threads.

[Kemp]

Bills fans who spend their time trying to come up with reasons to make Brady less great exhibit a loser mentality and frankly I find it pathetic.

[row_33]

The wimps of today take advantage of medical improvement to keep out there on the field.

 

They should refuse modern knee surgery technique and suffer like Sayers or Namath did.

 

That would prove they could play with them in the days when football was mean...

[ExiledInIllinois]

The wimps of today take advantage of medical improvement to keep out there on the field.

 

They should refuse modern knee surgery technique and suffer like Sayers or Namath did.

 

That would prove they could play with them in the days when football was mean...

Ha!

 

I am just saying tech has wrecked the game. Brady is great in his era. It is like driving a car. Just because Brady is great driving an automatic, doesn't mean he can drive a manual transmission. Yet, I wonder how well the old greats would have been given the advantages Brady and other modern qbs are afforded. They surely could drive the automatic!

 

Just no comparison. The game has changed radically. Longevity and durability, hits need to be addressed too.

 

Like trying to compare Lemeiux to Gretzky. Just a few short years separate them, but the game rules vastly changed. Mario had to fight his own battles and it took a toll.

 

Again, Brady is greatest of his era.

[row_33]

Ha!

 

I am just saying tech has wrecked the game. Brady is great in his era. It is like driving a car. Just because Brady is great driving an automatic, doesn't mean he can drive a manual transmission. Yet, I wonder how well the old greats would have been given the advantages Brady and other modern qbs are afforded. They surely could drive the automatic!

 

Just no comparison. The game has changed radically. Longevity and durability, hits need to be addressed too.

 

Like trying to compare Lemeiux to Gretzky. Just a few short years separate them, but the game rules vastly changed. Mario had to fight his own battles and it took a toll.

 

Again, Brady is greatest of his era.

 

I know, my theory is the game was the best when a fan was 11 years old. For me the peak of the NFL was the Christmas Eve Colts/Raiders overtime playoff game...

 

The big change was the Blount/Tatum rule taking away the ability to make contact after 5 yards, or to use the hook and other means of torture on WRs.

 

Marino was the first to cash in on this change the most bombing away to WRs that wouldn't have taken the abuse of the 70s men.

 

I am in my 44th or so year of NFL addiction, I have taught myself to go with the flow and appreciate what the game brings each year, or I can quit watching. Or i can be like a dozen or so bitter old farts I had to watch sports with growing up, complaining the whole game about how life sucks and nothing is as great as it was during the Depression. But they also volunteered to serve in WW2 so I can forgive them getting damaged by that. But their kids griped just as much without going to war...

[Kemp]

Ha!

 

I am just saying tech has wrecked the game. Brady is great in his era. It is like driving a car. Just because Brady is great driving an automatic, doesn't mean he can drive a manual transmission. Yet, I wonder how well the old greats would have been given the advantages Brady and other modern qbs are afforded. They surely could drive the automatic!

 

Just no comparison. The game has changed radically. Longevity and durability, hits need to be addressed too.

 

Like trying to compare Lemeiux to Gretzky. Just a few short years separate them, but the game rules vastly changed. Mario had to fight his own battles and it took a toll.

 

Again, Brady is greatest of his era.

How do you enter into your equation that every player now is bigger and faster than they were then?

[row_33]

How do you enter into your equation that every player now is bigger and faster than they were then?

 

They probably are bigger, for almost the entire part, now.

 

Speed is a different variable. It's not valued as much as it once was possibly? There isn't any glory in track and field like it once held... at least there won't be many if any as fast as Bob Hayes or Juice were in their prime.

Edited March 16, 2017 by row_33

[Chris66]

I still think you can't even come close to comparing qbs today with those of the old days. The qbs today are so not in control of the game like they used to be. Puppets on a string, controlled by the coaches and the voice in their headsets. IMO, Brady is the classic example, he's never called the game on his own... Always looking at the wrist band, cheat sheet and decoding what is ordered to him in his helmet's headset.

 

This goes for all modern qbs the last 15 years in the wireless tech era. Maybe only Peyton was a link to the old "seat of the pants" quarterbacking of the old days... And that's a stretch.

 

It is like a comparing pilots of different eras. One's that flew by seat of pants or the one's that can get the big bird up into the sky & back down again on an electronic beam.

 

The game is so different, it simply isn't fair to compare to past players who had to use more natural ability. Again, this goes for all modern qbs. Brady, with his cocaches, etc... Has of course mastered the art of the system & cheat sheet better than all others. That I will give him credit for.

Do you watch any Pats games? Probably not. Brady does more " check with me" plays than probably all qbs combined.

[ExiledInIllinois]

How do you enter into your equation that every player now is bigger and faster than they were then?

But the game is not better. Hence, Brady not better.

[Chris66]

But the game is not better. Hence, Brady not better.

Game is way better today. The only team that could probably keep up with todays players would be 90s Cowboys.

[Iron Maiden]

Couldn't agree with you more! The other thing I like to point out is that Brady has made a living off these quick over the middle passes. Imagine for a moment he had played in the 70's and Mel Blount, Jack Tatum, George Atkinson, LC Greenwood and co, had been waiting for the receivers playing under those rules. Wes Welker and Edleson and even Gronk

wouldn't have lasted one year in the league making those type of catches

 

Well, today, they have to deal with Luke Kuechly, Jamie Collins, Navarro Bowman, Bobby Wagner, Sean Lee, Derrick Johnson, Donta Hightower etc...I would venture to say these guys are faster, stronger and quicker......