TAMPA, Fla. — Let the old-timers yell. Let the punks tweet.
Let the rest of us sit back and enjoy the impassioned warbling of fans as they discuss, ever so modestly, whether Tom Brady sits atop the list of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
It’s a better argument than you think. Super Bowl titles and the accumulation of numbers make Brady an easy choice for a lot of people, but nuance can be a sneaky, little booger.
Balderdash! Brady went to the Super Bowl 10 times and won seven. Yes, but Otto Graham also went to 10 championship games and won seven. In 10 years.
Nonsense! Brady led the league in passing yards four times, in touchdowns five times and in passer rating two times. Yes, but Johnny Unitas also led the league in passing yards four times, in touchdowns four times and in passer rating three times.
Ridiculous! The 44-year-old Brady passed Drew Brees just last October to become the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards. Yes, but Sammy Baugh was only 29 when he became the NFL’s career yardage king in 1943 and it took another 16 years before another quarterback chased him down.
The point is that you cannot slam the book shut after looking at any single factor. And you cannot talk about the athleticism of, say Aaron Rodgers today, without considering Baugh once led the NFL in completions, in interceptions as a defensive back and in punting average in the same season.
It takes an accumulation of factors, a consideration of how the numbers stack up within a particular era, and an open mind to get a true picture of history’s best quarterback.
And, even then, we’re all probably still wrong.
But since Brady’s retirement Tuesday offers a chance to reflect, and since it can be so danged fun, let’s attempt to put this conversation in some type of perspective.
The numbers
Some facts are indisputable. Brady has thrown for more yards and more touchdowns than any quarterback in NFL history. That doesn’t make him the greatest, but it’s a nice starting point.
Who else belongs in this conversation? Certainly Brees, who led the NFL a record seven times in passing yards. And Steve Young, who led the league in passer rating six times. Graham led the league in yards five times and rating five times, which means he was prolific and efficient.
Dan Marino was the all-time yardage leader for 12 years, Peyton Manning led the league in passing yards (three times), touchdowns (four times) and rating (three times). Baugh and Unitas have similar claims.
The victories
Again, Brady can lock down this conversation. In 20 full seasons as a starter, he made the playoffs 19 times, went to 10 Super Bowls and won seven of them. His 243 regular-season wins as a starter is, far and away, the best in history. Manning and Brett Favre are tied for second at 186.
Still, there are some other arguments to be made. Graham, as mentioned above, won seven titles in 10 seasons and reached the championship game every year he played. The caveat is that, during the first four years of his career, Cleveland was in the All-America Football Conference. In the six years that he was with the Browns in the NFL, he won three championships and was runner-up three times.
Bart Starr won five NFL Championships and lost one with Green Bay. Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw both went 4-0 in the Super Bowl, Johnny Unitas won three NFL titles (losing two) and John Elway won two Super Bowls (losing three).
In a somewhat overlooked career, Roger Staubach went 2-2 in the Super Bowl and his .746 career winning percentage (85-29) rivals Brady’s .769 despite missing four years to a naval career that included a tour of duty in Vietnam.
The impact
This is Brady’s weakest category. He gets points for playing at an elite level into his mid-40s and for winning titles with two franchises, but he wasn’t particularly revolutionary as a quarterback.
Baugh, on the other hand, was playing quarterback at a different level than everyone else in the 1940s. His passer rating in 1947 was 92.0, and only one other quarterback in the league was above 70.0. His 2,938 passing yards that season stood as the NFL record until 1960.
Unitas, likewise, took the game in another direction. He was the first master of the two-minute offense, leading the Colts to 34 fourth-quarter comebacks. Unitas was the NFL record holder in that category from 1966 until Manning surpassed him 46 years later.
Montana, with the help of coach Bill Walsh, changed the passing game with the West Coast offense. Marino was a master of accuracy and the quick release. Young changed the parameters for a running quarterback, while Elway, Manning and Staubach were all considered fourth-quarter masters.
The conclusion
You can call it recency bias. You can call it hometown sentimentality. Call it whatever you want but, from my vantage point, Brady has done enough to claim the title of football’s greatest quarterback.
It certainly doesn’t mean I’m correct. I think cases could also be made for Unitas, Manning, Graham, Baugh, Montana and Marino.
The beauty of the argument is that it is forever evolving. As we learn more, see more, reflect more, our opinions often change.
The only thing we know for certain, on the day Brady walks away from the game, is we were fortunate enough to see one of history’s very best in Tampa Bay.
