Why Tom Brady is the GOAT
Brady is in a league of his own as both technician and teammate
Even after all these years, many Brady skeptics still attribute his success to Bill Belichick and/or the Patriots’ “system” and/ or the persistent weakness of their division, the AFC East.
There’s no question that Mr. Belichick is on a very short list of the greatest coaches in NFL history, and may well be the Greatest of All Time himself. Yet he’s always been known as a defensive specialist rather than an offensive guru. It’s also worth noting that Mr. Belichick had a losing record when he coached the Cleveland Browns in the 1990s and went 5–11 during his first year as head coach of the Patriots in 2000. New England started the 2001 season 0–2, and then went 11– 3 after Mr. Brady took over as starting quarterback following Drew Bledsoe’s injury.
In any case, the Brady– Belichick partnership has clearly made both player and coach more successful than they otherwise would’ve been. But that was also true of Joe Montana and his longtime head coach in San Francisco, the late Bill Walsh, who pioneered the “West Coast offense” in which Mr. Montana excelled. The strategic brilliance of Mr. Belichick and Mr. Walsh does not diminish the on-field achievements of their quarterbacks.
What about the claim that Mr. Brady is a “system” quarterback? The problem with this argument is that New England’s system has constantly changed, and Mr. Brady has always adapted his game to fit the team’s needs and maximize its advantages. He’s also thrown touchdown passes to more than 70 different players — an NFL record— the vast majority of whom are not, or were not, top-tier offensive weapons. Indeed, apart from Randy Moss, Mr. Brady has never played with a truly elite deep-ball threat.
As for the much-maligned AFC East division, ESPN’s Field Yates recently pointed out that, since 2001, New England has by far the league’s best record against (1) non-division opponents, (2) teams that won their division that season, (3) teams that made the playoffs that season and (4) teams that finished with a winning record that season.
In the end, football is the ultimate team sport, and Tom Brady is, in the words of former Pittsburgh Steeler James Harrison, “the ultimate teammate.” Mr. Harrison spent years trying to sack Mr. Brady as a linebacker. Last season, he came out of retirement to join the Patriots for their final regular-season game and playoff run. Speaking about Mr. Brady on FS1 a few weeks ago, Mr. Harrison said, “I wanted to hate this dude, like, with a passion. I get there and I’m like, ‘Dude, he’s the ultimate teammate.’ “
That’s been the overwhelming consensus among Mr. Brady’s fellow Patriots ever since he first entered the league. While it’s impossible to quantify the value of his leadership skills, work ethic, humility and generosity, they’re inseparable from the culture New England has built and the success it has achieved.
“I don’t think I can say enough about how good or cool of a guy he is,” Patriots left tackle Trent Brown told ESPN recently. “That’s cool to me, because he doesn’t have to be that way, like a lot of other superstars out there. But he doesn’t even think of himself as a superstar, which may be why he treats everyone the way he does.”
For all these reasons — and many more — Mr. Brady deserves to be celebrated as one of the greatest leaders and clutch players in the history of North American sports. Super Bowl LIII only made it more obvious. Tom Brady has cemented his status as the GOAT.