By Rosemary Harper
Tom Brady, one of the most famous and prolific athletes in the world, announced his retirement from the NFL on Tuesday, February 1, 2022, via Instagram.
In his post, he said, “I have always believed the sport of football is an “all-in” proposition- if a 100% competitive commitment isn’t there, you won’t succeed, and success is what I love so much about our game…This is difficult for me to write, but here it goes: I am not going to make that competitive commitment anymore. I have loved my NFL career, and now it is time to focus my time and energy on other things that require my attention.”
This announcement shook up the sports world, stirring up people’s emotions over the polarizing quarterback, and re-sparking conversations about whether Brady is the greatest quarterback of all time.
Most analysts, and perhaps even most fans, would argue that Brady is the GOAT. He won seven Super Bowl rings. That seems to speak for itself.
But it’s not the whole story. In determining a player’s merit, championships are not everything. Stat sheets need to be checked, comparisons made, and scandals (reminder: Brady had many) revisited. The talent level and management of the teams that Brady played on should also be analyzed because, as great as he was, he didn’t win any Super Bowls by himself.
Is Tom Brady the GOAT? Let’s look at the whole story.
To preface, “greatest of all time” arguments are never fully credible. They can’t be. Take baseball, for example. Someone in 2022 might try to argue that Mike Trout is the GOAT and better than Babe Ruth was because Mike Trout is a five-tool player and Ruth just hit homers. They might be right. But how would they know for sure? Virtually no one alive today was old enough to clearly remember Babe Ruth in his glory days and take in Mike Trout in his current prime. We have some old footage of Babe and access to all of his stat sheets, but to fully grasp how great or not great of a player he was, we had to be there, in that time period, experiencing his playing days. And that’s not possible.
Football is the same way. Someone today may try to argue that Brady is the greatest NFL quarterback to ever lace up his cleats and that he far surpasses old-time greats like Terry Bradshaw and Joe Namath. It might seem laughable to list Bradshaw and Namath alongside Brady, but who was there when they played? Even though some fans have witnessed all three talents, the evolution of the sport makes comparison nearly impossible. Bradshaw and Namath each only had about 28,000 career passing yards to compare with Brady’s 80,000, but the game of football in the 1960s and 70s was also vastly different to what it is now. Running was king then, while passing is king now. Bradshaw and Namath mastered the canvas and style of play that they were given, and Brady mastered the current style. Who’s to say which is the better artist? The game has changed so much. Stacking a QB from 50 years ago against a QB from today is like comparing apples to oranges.
In summary, any GOAT argument is shaky.
But they are still worth entertaining.
Is Tom Brady the GOAT? No.
That title, if it must be given, belongs to another elite quarterback whose picture is often placed right next to Brady’s in graphics. A guy who is even more of a legend than Tom, if you ask the right circles. Someone who played in the exact same era as Tom, and vied for the same records he did- sometimes pushing ahead of Brady, sometimes falling behind, always right there.
His name is Drew Brees.
Why is Brees the GOAT? How could that possibly be true? Brady’s career surely surpassed his in every possible way, didn’t it?
A side-by-side comparison of their careers- their championships, their stats, their scandals, the teams that were built around them, and their legacies- is needed.
The whole story needs to be told so that the whole answer can be found.
Stats
First, their stats. Tom Brady and Drew Brees are ranked #1 and #2 all-time in every consequential passing category. (In all of them, Brady is #1 and Brees is #2.) Since passing numbers are as close to an individual accomplishment as a quarterback can get, these stats are telling when stacking these QBs up against each other.
Tom Brady: 11,317 pass attempts, 7,263 pass completions, 624 passing touchdowns, 84,520 passing yards, 64.2% completion percentage
Drew Brees: 10,551 pass attempts, 7,142 pass completions, 571 passing touchdowns, 80,358 passing yards, 67.7% completion percentage
Brady has a clear edge over Brees in every category but completion percentage. But Brady played 22 seasons in the NFL, while Brees only played 20. The gaps between their numbers can easily be accounted for by 2 more seasons of playing time. Actually, Brees was even ahead of Brady in passing yards and passing completions when the Saints QB retired in 2021, despite the fact that Brady had a one-year head start (he debuted in 2000, Drew in 2001).
Dividing each quarterback’s total passing numbers by the number of seasons they played shows that Brees was a better passer with better numbers.
Supporting Cast:
No quarterback can win games by themselves, so it’s important to compare how much help Brees and Brady had around them.
Tom Brady: Brady has had a phenomenal supporting cast his entire career. In New England, he was under Bill Belicheck, arguably the greatest coach of all time. His receivers included the legend Randy Moss and future Hall-of-Famer Julian Edelman. He had the greatest tight end of all time, Rob Gronkowski. Plus, the Patriots had the best defense in the league for a solid chunk of Brady’s career.
When Brady signed with the Buccaneers, everything was already made and ready for him in Tampa Bay. Bruce Arians is a skilled coach and the roster was loaded with studs like Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, Antonio Brown, Rob Gronkowski (again), Leonard Fournette, Richard Sherman, and Ndamukong Suh. Again: loaded.
Drew Brees: Brees has simply not had the same talent around him that Brady has. Sean Payton was his coach for most of his career. Payton is certainly excellent. But he’s not on the level of Belichick. Not even close. Belichick is a wizard in the playoffs; Payton has made some of the most puzzling postseason calls in history. Brady had a better coach, and it’s not close.
The Saints have certainly had many talented teams, especially of late. Running back Alvin Kamara and wide receivers Michael Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders were huge weapons for Brees in the last few seasons of his career. But, big picture, how many players can you name that played with Drew for an extended amount of time and are headed for (or are already in) the Hall? Likely none. But Brady? Moss, Gronk, and Edelman, three of his biggest weapons. And while the Saints have had strong defenses, they have not been close to the level of the dominant Patriots Ds that complemented Brady.
Tom had way more help. He was set up for success from early on.
Wins and Championships
More than anything, wins and titles are a team accomplishment. It takes dozens of skilled players and hundreds of explosive moments to win a championship. One electric quarterback can’t do it alone (cue Dan Marino). It is important to examine Brady and Brees’ win totals in light of the skill placed around each of them.
Tom Brady: 230 regular season wins, 34 playoff wins, 18 division titles, 14 championship games, 10 Super Bowl appearances, 7 Super Bowl wins.
Drew Brees: 133 regular season wins, 8 playoff wins, 7 division titles, 3 championship games, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win
Tom Brady wins this category by an astronomical amount. But, of course. The quarterback with the better team will win more games. It’s also worth noting that the Saints were victim to many egregious playoff calls, including the lack of a pass interference call in 2018 (in a game that would have sent them to the Super Bowl) and the other lack of a pass interference call in 2019. On the other hand, the Patriots were notorious for benefiting from some questionable referee calls, most famously the Tuck Rule. A handful of calls go a different way, and Brees could have a couple more rings on his fingers and Brady could have a couple less. It really is the officials’ world, and these quarterbacks are just living in it.
As far as head-to-head wins are concerned, Brees holds the advantage, 5-3.
Scandals
What scandals are tied to each signal callers’ name?
Tom Brady: Scandal is the Patriots’ middle name. Spygate 2007, when the Patriots filmed the Jets illegally. Deflategate 2014, when the Patriots purposely deflated the balls in the AFC Championship while playing Peyton Manning’s Colts. Spygate 2019, when the Patriots filmed the Bengals’ sideline.
Some would say that Brady is not to blame for any of these incidents. Some would say that none of these actions gave the Patriots a substantial advantage. Regardless, the team repeatedly cheated in definite ways. Several of their wins, and the credibility of their program (which Brady was a part of), should be in question. And there is no way that Brady did not orchestrate or at least know about the deflation of the balls in 2014. He was the quarterback of the team that tried to gain an advantage. He was the one throwing the ball. He knew.
If you really are the greatest of all time, you shouldn’t feel the need to cheat.
Drew Brees: Bountygate 2009 to 2011, in which Saints players were paid extra for injuring opposing players. This situation was completely unethical and frightening. However, there is no logical way to link Bountygate to Brees. He wasn’t at fault. What advantage the bonus program gave to the Saints is up for debate.
Legacy
In order to get a full picture of an athlete, more than a stat sheet needs to be reviewed. The human and the legacy they left needs to be examined. If you’re going to wear the heavy crown of the GOAT, you must be something more than just a great passer.
Tom Brady: 15 years from now, a reporter walks up to someone on a random street and asks, “What comes to mind when you think of Tom Brady?” The answer might be something like “Patriots” or “7 rings” or “lots of Super Bowl Parades” or “Deflategate”.
If a reporter were to ask the same question to a die-hard Patriots fan in Boston, the answer might be “GOAT!” or “my guy who gave us all the championships!”
Drew Brees: 15 years from now, a reporter walks up to someone on a random street and asks, “What comes to mind when you think of Drew Brees?” They might say “Saints” or “Sean Payton” or “Hall-of-Fame passer”.
If a reporter were to ask the same question to a die-hard Saints fan in New Orleans, the answer would be different. Much different. They would think of a savior. Someone who gave them a reason to hope and smile when they were desperate after Hurricane Katrina. A quarterback who meant so much to their city, people built actual shrines to him. A man who led the Saints to a Super Bowl a couple seasons after everyone in the city lost absolutely everything.
That’s who Drew Brees is.
That, and the GOAT.
Sources
https://stathead.com/football/pcm_finder.cgi?player_id2=BreeDr00&player_id1=BradTo00&sum=0&request=1