OKLAHOMA CITY, February 2, 2012—Tom Brady is already in as rarified air as you can get for a quarterback, and depending on what happens in Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday, he could solidify his place amongst the elite of all players.
Let’s first take a look at the numbers. Brady will be making his fifth Super Bowl start, a feat matched only by John Elway. However, Elway was 2-3 in the big game and Brady is currently 3-1. The only other quarterback with three rings is Troy Aikman.
If Brady wins Sunday he will join Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana as the only quarterbacks with four championships. Bradshaw and Montana both went 4-0 in Super Bowls.
All of the afore mentioned players are Hall of Famers, and to say that Brady will be a Hall of Famer is like saying that George Clooney can steal your special lady.
For years, the argument has been who’s better between Brady and Peyton Manning. Who knew that not playing for a year would be the best case to strengthen Manning's argument? But if we truly judge players and their place in history with championships, then Brady is in this discussion.
One argument for Brady is the players around him. Elway didn’t have any Hall of Fame caliber wide receivers, and didn’t win a championship until he got Shannon Sharp at tight end and Terrell Davis at running back.
Aikman had one of the greatest offensive lines ever, the all-time leading career rushing leader in Emmitt Smith and HOF receiver Michael Irvin.
Bradshaw had Franco Harris, Lynn Swan and John Stallworth; all Hall of Famers. Not to mention the Steel Curtain defense.
Montana had the greatest receiver, and maybe player, of all time in Jerry Rice for two of his championships.
Brady has won championships with receivers like Troy Brown and Deion Branch. The best running back Brady had on any of the Patriots teams was Corey Dillon. The Patriots have always had great players. Ironically when Brady had his best players, like Randy Moss and Wes Welker, he also had his only Super Bowl loss.
This year is a blend of the two. He still has Welker and Branch back at reciever, but now he has two weapons in Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski, who just had the best season of a tight end ever.
Where players rank can be argued forever, and we will never have a consensus. With three rings Brady is better than Aikman. Bradshaw played on unbelievable teams, but probably isn’t ahead of Elway or Montana all time.
Give Brady another ring and it’s hard to argue that he’s not one the of all time greatest.
Even with a loss he’s still pretty darn good.
Tomorrow: Where does Eli Manning rank?
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Coincidently, or not, Jason also does movie reviews for KJ103. You can also follow Jason on Twitter@jasonblack23.
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