For New England Patriots and Tom Brady fans who get offended every time someone writes something about how great he isn't right now, here's a reminder that all of us still think he's in the debate for the greatest of all time.
Now that's out of the way, Brady on Monday had a chance to respond to last week's numbers-heavy Pro Football Focus article that determined he wasn't still a top-five quarterback. According to Brady, "other than wins and losses", no statistic kept for starting passers matters.
Tom Brady stressed today that wins and losses are the most important stats for a quarterback.
— Doug Kyed (@DougKyedNESN) June 9, 2014Smart answer, Tom, because when we start talking about quarterback wins, no one else wins more. (Apologies to those who don't believe it's a statistic that should somehow be tied to quarterbacks).
Let's just start with the past five years. When you compare him to current venerable "Mount Rushmore" of NFL QBs, he has more wins than Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees. He's gone 65-24, including playoffs, for a winning percentage of .730. Manning at 54-18 (.750) has a higher such mark, but then again, of those four passers, Brady is the only one who started every game for his team while Manning missed an entire season. (Add durability to those 'intangible' stats).
By now you should know Brady's 18 playoff victories are No. 1 in NFL history, two ahead of 49ers legend and Brady boyhood hero Joe Montana. But did you know his 148 regular-season victories are second behind Brett Favre, and Brady will break his tie with John Elway early in the 2014 season?
Another reminder: Elite is defined as "a select part of a group that is superior to the rest in terms of ability or qualities." No matter how you slice it, through perceived present decline or past accomplishments, Brady qualified for the e-word more than a dozen seasons ago. Recent history provides no reason to have his membership revoked, but rather renewed.
