When Tom Brady first took the field in September 2001 to fill in for the injured Drew Bledsoe, few people viewed the clumsy backup as anything special. After 20 years and 10 Super Bowl appearances, however, the story of the six-round pick has captivated sports fans everywhere. He is not only the greatest NFL player ever, but also the most valuable player in the league today.
“No player in recent memory has been more analyzed or debated, more beloved or reviled,” said Gotham Chopra, director of ESPN+’s new film series “Man in the Arena: Tom Brady”.
The series, which aired on ESPN+ from Nov. 16 to Dec. 28, exemplifies the public interest in the quarterback by breaking down each of his seven Super Bowl victories, and what led up to them.
Brady is already a legend. Just look at his crazy quarterback records, including most passing yards, touchdowns, regular-season wins, playoff appearances, and both playoff and Super Bowl wins.
Most impressive of all, he remains a force in the NFL today. The 44-year-old is coming off his seventh title and fifth Super Bowl MVP. Last year, Brady did the unthinkable: after 20 seasons with the New England Patriots, he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite adjusting to a new team in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brady led a wild card team to defy the odds by winning three straight playoff games on the road and capturing a Super Bowl victory.
To get there, he routed the Washington Football Team on a short week, and then defeated Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints in an away game in the divisional round, after having lost to them twice in the regular season. He then traveled to Lambeau Field in wintry January and beat MVP Aaron Rodgers and the 1st-seed Green Bay Packers. Finally, he won his title against the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes, acclaimed as the Brady of his generation, by double digits.
While the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 13-4 record this season doesn’t look like anything special for Tom Brady – he has, after all, never had a losing season as a starter – Brady is also second place in the NFL MVP race, according to ESPN’s end-of-the-season outlook on Jan. 4, behind only Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Despite what the Associated Press decides, Brady had a better regular-season than Rodgers.
Some quickly pass over Brady as a candidate because of a few trivial stats. For instance, his twelve interceptions this year look a lot worse than Rodgers’ four. Additionally, his 68.2 quarterback rating falls second-ranked to Aaron Rodgers’ 68.9 QBR.
But in almost every other category, Brady leads Rodgers by a long shot. Brady leads the league in passing attempts and completions, both NFL records. He also leads the league in passing yards, the second-most in NFL history, and passing touchdowns. Brady threw for 1,200 more passing yards than Rodgers while throwing an additional 100-plus passing attempts, with six extra touchdowns. More football touches usually lead to more mistakes, but for Brady to still lead in so many important categories is remarkable.
Not only that, but Brady has done this despite losing his number-one wide receiver, Chris Godwin, to a knee injury on Dec. 19 against the New Orleans Saints, and two weeks later, his friend and wide receiver Antonio Brown, who walked out of the game in the third quarter against the New York Jets. Since then he overcame these adversities to win the final three games of the season, with 6 touchdowns and 0 interceptions without these players on the field.
Finally, his ability to operate at this extremely high level of play despite being 44 years old, an age where no other quarterback has even started a game, is beyond impressive. Many of Brady’s closest competitions in the MVP race are close to twenty years younger than him. For instance, Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who is 25 and was in the top-five odds to win the award most of the year, wasn’t even in kindergarten when Tom Brady was drafted.
As Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Bruce Arians commented, it would be a “travesty” if Tom Brady does not get the award.
“I think if he doesn’t get it, it’s a travesty,” Arians said on Jan. 10, the day after the last regular season game, according to The Associated Press. “Most completions ever, 5,000 yards, touchdowns – the whole nine yards. To me, it’s not even a close race.”
The facts don’t lie. Tom Brady isn’t just the greatest player of all time. He is also the best in the league right now.
