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There was a lot to take away from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Super Bowl Championship last month, but by far the loudest story that has emerged from Tampa has been the further consolidation of Tom Brady’s legacy.
By winning a title under unnamed coach Bill Belichick, Brady eliminated what would have been one of the biggest counter-arguments against his greatest NFL consensus status of all time had he retired. with the New England Patriots.
Brady now has seven rings with two different teams, five Super Bowl MVP awards in 10 appearances, three MVP awards, a record 14 Pro Bowl selections, and the NFL’s all-time touchdown record. GOAT debates are tiring and reductive regardless of the sport, but in Brady’s case it seems like a fairly short debate at this point.
This was the case when Joe Montana, previously the answer for many in the GOAT debate, appeared on ESPN’s “First Take” Wednesday. Asked by Max Kellerman if he thought Brady had outdone him and everyone else, Montana said it happened a long time ago:
Response from Montana:
I think Tom took his place up there a long time ago. He’s had a great career, he’s fun to watch. Everyone’s still arguing about it, but I think if you look at what Tom has been able to accomplish during the time he’s been playing, I think that definitely puts him at the top of the list.
There are a lot of great guys, like I said, before me you come back to Otto Graham, who won 10 or 11 championships. It’s hard to compare them, but if you watch him, yeah, definitely Tom at this point.
Hearing this from Montana probably means a lot to Brady, who grew up idolizing the San Francisco 49ers legend.
It should be noted that Graham only won seven championships (four AAC championships, three NFL championships), but achieved a title game in his 10-year career with the Cleveland Browns.
Montana is right, however, as it is very difficult to compare quarterbacks in an ever-changing sport with so many different coaches and systems. There are still people who would like to see what would have happened if Peyton Manning or Aaron Rodgers had played under Bill Belichick for most of their careers.
GOAT status is sufficiently amorphous that it is almost impossible to determine a correct answer for almost every sport, but Brady has at least put himself in the status where all the debate revolves around him.
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