Tom Brady is now the undisputed greatest NFL quarterback of all time. 21 seasons, 10 Super Bowl appearances, and seven wins. All of them “and counting”, because Brady at age 43 still isn’t done playing the game. He is a special, once-in-a-lifetime mix of talent, skill, luck, and longevity. On the same weekend that Peyton Manning - Brady’s biggest rival QB - is elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Tom puts yet another ring to his finger.
Surely it’s the middle one.
With last night’s Tampa Bay victory, even 49ers fans have to give respect to Brady, and recognize that our great Joe Montana is not longer at the top of the mountain. Montana is still on Rushmore, but Brady is the unqualified number one.
He left New England and took a new team to Super Bowl on the very first season. It goes to show just how important an elite, franchise quarterback is in football. It’s not everything, but a great quarterback can take an otherwise solid team over the hump very quickly. Brady proved it last night.
More pain for 49ers fans: during the last offseason, when Brady was a free-agent, he actually wanted to come to play for San Francisco! And the team declined his services! Hindsight being what it is, but when the greatest of all time wants to come play for your team, you don’t say no. One year later, Brady has another Super Bowl win, and the 49ers are on the prowl for a new QB to take them over the hump. Life is cruel like that.
Some guys really do have it all: the best at their job, supermodel-handsome, marry a supermodel, live in a giant mansion, and unfathomably rich. The closest parallel to Brady I can think of is Cristiano Ronaldo.
Play time with the kids.