I’m not one to usually defend Tom Brady — because everyone in the media seems to get on their knees and praise the six-time Super Bowl champ enough — but there are certain times when it’s necessary. And, as I came across a survey of 50 NFL coaches and talent evaluators who ranked the best starting quarterbacks in the league, per The Athletic‘s Mike Sando, some of the comments about the GOAT actually pissed me off.
Now, I’m in no way a Brady fan, so don’t immediately point a finger and claim I’m a homer. Sure, the dude’s story is remarkable — the sixth-round pick who’s bound for the Hall of Fame and is still carving up defenses at age 42 — but, generally speaking, I’m rooting against the guy from winning anytime he’s on the field. We’ve been there and seen that, so move along and let somebody else win a little bit; maybe like my Cleveland Browns?
But there’s no denying the blatant hate (and delusional evaluations) that some of the executives who took part in Sando’s survey clearly spewed towards Tom Brady — who did end up landing on No. 6 on the quarterback rankings. The most telling was the anonymous exec who had the gall to say this about the new Tampa Bay Buccaneers signal-caller.
“He doesn’t want to take a hit,” the executive said. “I think the arm is still there, but a lot of in-cutting routes, I think he has to be played to his strengths. Really really smart, knows where to go with it, but he just doesn’t quite dominate.”
To the person who said this, please do yourself a favor and go take a timeout from talking.
Look, there’s no denying that Tom Brady’s older and does what every quarterback tries to do: avoid hits. That’s something Brady has done his entire career, which is why he’s still excelling at the age he is; because he’s avoided defenders plowing him into the ground.
As for the second part of that evaluation from the anonymous NFL executive (re: “doesn’t quite dominate”), fair enough. But there’s no way in hell a team doesn’t still fear Brady as much as a guy like Patrick Mahomes, Drew Brees or Russell Wilson — because the guy still has it, and, even though he’s limited physically, he’s still got the one thing that makes him better than anyone who has ever done it: His smarts.
Even so, Brady still finished the 2019 NFL season with 24 touchdown passes and threw for over 4,000 yards — and had three games of at least three touchdown passes and five games with over 300 yards passing — so it’s not like he’s a statue with a noodle arm standing back there. To suggest the guy can’t take over a game anymore is about as much bullshit as me thinking the Browns will actually make the playoffs this upcoming season.
Now, is Tom Brady the same player as he was when he was 32 years old? No. Is he a guy who’s going to extend plays with his feet? No, but he’s always slyly done so with his pocket presence. Is he going to throw for 5,000 yards and 30+ touchdowns, though? Given his supporting cast with the Buccaneers — which includes two Pro Bowl wideouts and a future Hall of Fame tight end in Rob Gronkowski — one could argue TB12 very well could do that.
I’m all for seeing Tom Brady never winning another Super Bowl. But the guy is one year removed from winning two of three titles, so until he actually starts showing that he’s incapable of being a starting quarterback — which, at that point, he’ll probably retire — let’s not assume the guy will just fail because he’s a year older. I mean, sheesh, how many times has this guy proven everybody wrong before?
(H/T Bleacher Report)
