PITTSBURGH — Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback who ever picked up a football.
Period.
End of story.
There is no asterisk because "he got caught cheating." There are no legitimate questions about how many Super Bowls are tainted. There is no reasonable argument that his career was based on fraud.
It is all the whining of people whose teams weren't good enough to beat Brady and deny him his accolades. And believe me, when I hear people bringing it up and even comparing it to steroids in baseball, I cringe and then feel sorry for anyone trying to run that mess at me.
Spygate is one of the most misunderstood scandals in the history of scandals. The Cliff Notes version for those who are confused: No, the Patriots didn't tape practices of other teams. That was a debunked story that was based on fiction. The scandal of Spygate was not even that the Patriots were stealing the Jets' defensive signals (and presumably other teams), it is that they were doing it from unauthorized locations in the stadium.
Now think about that — every team was permitted to videotape the other team's signals, they just had to do it from authorized locations in the stadium. In other words, whatever edge the Patriots got from stealing signals from a different location than everyone else was negligible at best.
It is laughable that people try and use this as some sort of way to impugn what Brady has done. Every team was doing it, and quite frankly, his list of accomplishments since Spygate is so long and impressive that it only serves to prove that he didn't need to have signals stolen in order to have success.
If you want to tell me it makes you wonder about Bill Belichick and whatever he has accomplished, I would listen. It isn't the Spygate that makes me wonder, it is the fact that he was willing to do that to try and win. So what else was he willing to do?
But again, Spygate is not why the Patriots beat the Steelers in the AFC title game regardless of how many times Hines Ward claims it is. Bill Cowher has many times dispelled that myth and has also said the Patriots weren't doing anything every other team was doing in terms of stealing signals.
Then there is Deflategate, which is comical. Brady allegedly asked the equipment guys to take a little air out of the footballs so he could grip it better. People, who have no idea about air pressure levels and barometric pressure, all became experts on this and of course it became a huge scandal.
Brady was even suspended for this but here is the thing: The suspension was self-preservation for the NFL. They knew the world was watching because the Patriots had been involved in a scandal before, so Brady became the fall guy.
You know who didn't criticize Brady? Almost every other person who has ever played quarterback in their life. Why? Because most quarterbacks doctor the footballs in some small way to make it so the grip is correct. Aaron Rodgers admitted to this and so did a few others.
The fact that a couple of Brady's footballs were some small percentage of air pressure less than what they were supposed to be is not why the Patriots lit up the Colts, 45-7, that day. The footballs could have been nerf balls and the Patriots were still going to win that game.
Stop talking about asterisks, stop talking about tainted titles and stop all the madness that I have read since it became known that Brady was going to retire. Brady may not have been 100% righteous in every situation, but he isn't a serial cheater, either.
I would challenge anyone to show me a clear example of an actual advantage he got that led him to winning a single game that he shouldn't have won. You can't — unless you wear a tin foil hat, buy into ridiculous conspiracy theories and listen to fan boys of other teams who make it their mission to discredit what he accomplished.
Brady played 22 seasons, won seven Super Bowls, had 10 conference titles, recorded 35 playoff wins — which is the most by any quarterback by 19 — was a15-time Pro Bowl player, a three-time MVP and the leader in all-time touchdown passes and passing yards. He was 10-4 in conference title games which is absolutely stupid.
You can tell me that Brady wasn't always likable, though he has become much more likable recently. You can tell me he is arrogant and at times a bit hard to root for. You can tell me you hated him because he always beat your team. You can even tell me you think he was an overrated system quarterback (though that same system for the Patriots has not seemingly been nearly as good since he left New England so ...) or a product of Belichick.
I won't agree with you, but I will at least listen to you. Just don't come at me with nonsense about Brady's accomplishments being tainted or that he needs an asterisk next to his name. That's ridiculous and mostly the lament of losers.
