I have not watched any NFL football in 3 years. But I grew up in New England and all of my close friends and everyone in my social media circle from there are Yuuuuuge Patriots fans. I am not. When I was growing up, my dad and I didn’t watch a lot of team sports together and since my parents weren’t from New England, the Patriots likely wouldn’t have been his team anyway. So unlike a lot of my friends, I didn’t inherit my fandom from my dad. Boxing was our thing. I got my love for the sweet science from him and my grandfather. Also when I was growing up, NE sports teams were terrible. Red Sox, Celtics and the Patriots…Patsies as they were often called back then were pretty crappy. I’m not a hockey fan, so I really have no idea whether or Bruins were any good back then. Since no one instilled that die hard fandom in me, I couldn’t be a fan of a terrible team. I said all of that just to give you my perspective on the Patriots and sports in general.
So, is Tom Brady the GOAT? Just from watching him over the years, he passes the eye test. It seems like he leads them to the big game every year. But let’s take a look at his numbers. In the regular season, he ranks 4th all time in passing yards, completions and touchdown passes. He is 3rd all time in wins and passer rating. His completion percentage is 63.8 which puts him at 14th all time. That is a misleading stat when you consider that the leader is Drew Brees at 66.6. it’s in the playoffs are where Brady separates himself though.
In the playoffs, Brady is ranked first in passing yards, completions, TD passes and wins. His completion percentage is a bit below his regular season average at 62.39, but this is still misleading when you consider that the leaders are Matt Shaub and Teddy Bridgewater at 70.8. Do either of those guys have enough appearances to even warrant being on the list? His playoff passer rating isn’t the greatest either at 88.7; 16 points behind Bart Starr. But now let’s talk about the SuperBowl. He’s been to the big game 8 times, won 5 of them and has earned 4 SuperBowl MVP awards. He is ranked number one in career completions, single game completions, career passing yards, passing yards in a single game and touchdown passes. The only SuperBowl stat in which he is not ranked number one is completion percentage. There he ranks 4th.
Despite the fact that he is not ranked number one in EVERY statistical category, his greatness goes beyond the stats. In those two SuperBowls that he lost against the Giants, he did his job. He marched the Patriots down the field and got them the lead only to see his defense let him down. (Seriously, that scramble and pass from Eli Manning to David Tyree was just silly. Where is Tyree now? Hmmm.) Based on the way he has played in the SuperBowl though, he should have 7 rings already.
Now, to answer the question whether Tom Brady the GOAT. From a statistical perspective, yes. He is the greatest playoff QB in NFL history and it isn’t even close. How many quarterbacks have come along who were supposed to be the next Brady but fell flat? Luck? Bradford, Winston, Prescott? Tom Brady has been the most consistently great player that we have seen in our lifetime. He’s been playing at this level about 14 years. He has carried some Patriots teams to victory that would have gotten bounced out of the playoffs with any other quarterback. If Brady and the Patriots beats the Rams and continues to play at this level, he will put his records firmly in unbreakable territory. Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of all time. And it isn’t even close.