By Jimmy Garoufalis
Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback in NFL history because Tom Brady has won six Super Bowls. That is probably true.
And Tom Brady has won more games, by far, than anyone else, so therefore Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback in NFL history.
That is also probably true. But not in the way you might think.
Here is the very basic Tom Brady catalogue: 6 Super Bowls wins, 10 Super Bowl appearances, 14 Conference Championship appearances, 14 playoff game winning drives in the 4th quarter or overtime.
The numbers are unparalleled, so therefore Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback in NFL history.
Also, probably true.
However, if you really want to prove that Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback ever, you should not be adding up his greatest accomplishments.
You should take them away.
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Start by taking away Tom Brady’s six Super Bowl wins.
Brady would still have a record 27 playoff victories, 11 more than Joe Montana.
Now take away Brady’s 10 Conference Championship victories.
Brady would still have more playoff wins than anyone else. Brady 17. Joe Montana 16.
That is just the beginning.
Because when Tom Brady loses, Tom Brady still wins.
Let’s see if that is true.
Take away all of Brady’s playoff victories in those six Super Bowl winning seasons. All 18 of them, which by themselves would be a record.
But that creates a problem because Tom Brady, at the age of 43, is in a position to win a 7th Super Bowl this Sunday.
And if the Buccaneers beats the Chiefs on Sunday, Brady would only have 12 playoff wins in years when he does not win the Super Bowl. Impressive, but not close to Joe Montana’s 16.
However, if Brady were to lose to the Chiefs, suddenly that number jumps to 15, counting his victories in these playoffs against the Redskins, Saints and Packers.
So, Brady can either find himself winning another Super Bowl, putting him even further ahead of Bart Starr (5 titles), Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw (4 each) on the all time list.
Or he can end up just one behind Montana on the all time list for playoff victories when we take away Super Bowl winning seasons.
So when Tom Brady loses, Tom Brady still wins.
This only happens to Tom Brady.
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Now let’s look at the top regular season winning percentages for quarterbacks in the modern era, using 80 wins as a cutoff point. Only Hall of Famers, and future Hall of Famers are on this very illustrious list.
1. TOM BRADY 230 – 69 – 0 (.769)
2. Roger Staubach 85 – 29 – 0 (.746)
3. Joe Montana 117 – 47 – 0 (.713)
4. Peyton Manning 186 – 79 – 0 (.702)
5. Russell Wilson 98 – 45 – 1 (.684)
6. Ben Roethlisberger 156 – 74 – 1 (.67749)
7. Terry Bradshaw 107 – 51 – 0 (.67721)
8. Aaron Rodgers 126 – 63 – 1 (.665)
9. Ken Stabler 96 – 49 – 1 (.661)
10. Steve Young 94 – 49 – 1 (.656)
11. Johnny Unitas 118 – 63 – 4 (.649)
12. John Elway 148 – 82 – 1 (.643)
13. Brett Favre 186 – 112 – 0 (.624)
14. Dan Marino 147 – 93 – 0 (.613)
Look at those numbers carefully and since we do not know the result of the Chiefs – Bucs Super Bowl, we will leave out the entire 2020 season. Spoiler alert: the math doesn’t change much.
Take away Tom Brady’s record of 115 – 23 – 0 (.833) in his 9 Super Bowl seasons.
Brady’s record in the 11 seasons when he did NOT REACH the Super Bowl. 104 – 41 – 0 (.717)
Take away Tom Brady’s 75 – 15 – 0 (.833) record in his 6 Super Bowl winning seasons.
Brady’s record in the 14 seasons when he did NOT WIN the Super Bowl. 144 – 49 – 0 (.746)
Now take away Tom Brady’s 10 best regular seasons. 130 – 24 – 0 (.844)
Brady’s record in his WORST 10 regular seasons 89 – 40 – 0 (.690)
Now, how would an amended list of top winning percentages look if we included Brady’s worst seasons and leave out his overall record?
1. TOM BRADY’s 14 non SB winning seasons 144 – 49 – 0 (.74611)
2. Roger Staubach 85 – 29 – 0 (.74561)
3. TOM BRADY’s 11 non SB reaching seasons 104 – 41 – 0 (.717)
4. Joe Montana 117 – 47 – 0 (.713)
5. Peyton Manning 186 – 79 – 0 (.702)
6. TOM BRADY’s 10 WORST seasons 89 – 40 – 0 (.690)
7. Russell Wilson 98 – 45 – 1 (.684)
8. Ben Roethlisberger 156 – 74 – 1 (.67749)
9. Terry Bradshaw 107 – 51 – 0 (.67721)
10. Aaron Rodgers 126 – 63 – 1 (.665)
12. Ken Stabler 96 – 49 – 1 (.661)
13. Steve Young 94 – 49 – 1 (.656)
14. Johnny Unitas 118 – 63 – 4 (.649)
15. John Elway 148 – 82 – 1 (.643)
16. Brett Favre 186 – 112 – 0 (.624)
17. Dan Marino 147 – 93 – 0 (.613)
I know what you are thinking. Anyone can move numbers around to prove anything.
You can’t, at least not with Tom Brady. I tried it. You can try it as well.
Go ahead. I’ll start.
Peyton Manning, 9-23 in 1998 and 2001. Take those away. Manning jumps to the top of the new list at .760 (177 – 56 – 0)
Joe Montana, 2-6 in 1979 & 1980, then 3-6 in 1982. Take those away. Montana jumps ahead of Peyton at .762 (112 – 35 – 0)
So numbers can prove anything, right? No. They can’t.
Because the only way anyone can catch Tom Brady is if we take away their worst and then take away Brady’s best. And then Tom Brady would still win, because when Tom Brady loses, Tom Brady still wins.
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Brady has won a record 230 regular season games. Will anyone ever break that record?
Drew Brees, 172 wins, Ben Roethlisberger, 156, Aaron Rodgers, 126, will not be catching up to Tom Brady.
That leaves just 3 possible quarterbacks who might.
Russell Wilson has 98 wins since his rookie season in 2012, 2nd most in the NFL. That is a lot of wins and Russell Wilson is only 32 years old.
But since the 2012 season, Brady has 106 wins. And each of those 106 wins came after he turned 35 years old.
So no, Russell Wilson will not catch Tom Brady.
Next is Lamar Jackson. Lamar is only 24, and Lamar already has 30 wins in 3 seasons.
But in those same three seasons, Brady has 34 wins. Now, it is true that Lamar started just 7 games as a rookie, but then again Brady started none.
So no, Lamar Jackson will not catch Tom Brady.
And finally we have Patrick Mahomes, Brady’s opponent on Sunday. Mahomes is 25 years old and he will, like Lamar, in all likelihood, be winning games for a very long time.
Mahomes has 38 wins in 4 seasons. True, Mahomes only started one game as a rookie, but then again Brady started none.
In those same 4 seasons Tom Brady has 47 wins.
And this is where we get the true understanding of how great and incomparable Tom Brady really is.
Tom Brady at the age of 43 is still winning more games right now than the younger quarterbacks who are trying to catch him.
Brady’s worst seasons, in either the regular season or playoffs, are still better than everyone else’s.
And the reason isn’t complicated. Everyone struggles as some point, but Tom Brady has been winning non-stop since he entered the league, and has continued winning non-stop.
Because when Tom Brady loses, Tom Brady still wins.
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