INDIANAPOLIS — Tom Brady has already shaped a legacy every quarterback dreams about. Another Super Bowl victory elevates his legend to a place only the rarest of athletes tread.
If Brady and the Patriots take down the Giants on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium, it would be hard to argue against the 34-year-old being the greatest quarterback to ever play the game, even greater than childhood idol Joe Montana. Each would have four Super Bowl victories, as does former Pittsburgh Steeler Terry Bradshaw.
Many coaches and analysts, as well as Brady’s peers, suggest Brady’s greatness isn’t about math, but the substance behind the numbers.
“He’ll be the greatest quarterback ever” with a victory Sunday, former NFL defensive lineman Warren Sapp asserted. “Montana is Montana. But Montana threw to (Jerry) Rice, (John) Taylor, (Brent) Jones and Roger Craig in the backfield. Other than Randy Moss . . . he’s (had) journeymen . . . Troy Brown, I like Troy Brown but . . . and he’s made Wes Welker relevant. I mean, c’mon.”
That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but his point is valid. Brady nearly got to the Super Bowl following the 2006 season with a cast of middle-of-the-road receivers led by Reche Caldwell, Doug Gabriel, Chad Jackson, Jabar Gaffney and Brown, who was playing on one good leg. But no matter who he has out there, Brady still manages to pile up numbers and wins — the latter more significant.
Now, if Brady doesn’t ring up another championship, his resume won’t suffer too much in the final analysis. The detractors will point to seven years without a Super Bowl victory, but the backers will look at the total picture. He’s been good enough to lead his team to five Super Bowl appearances in 10 years — an awesome statistic, especially considering he’s evolved from a game manager back in 2001 to the guy who essentially carries the team.
So what makes him tick? What’s led him to the doorstep of being the greatest quarterback of all-time? Talking to those who have played with and know Brady, his competitiveness. He’s driven to be the best, and won’t accept anything less.
“In my opinion, quarterbacks are measured by the championships they win,” said former teammate and ESPN analyst Tedy Bruschi. “He probably wants to have more than anyone else, that’s how competitive he is. For him to get his fourth would say a lot.
“I just know he’s never satisfied. Winning one championship was never enough for him. Winning 21 games in a row was never enough. He’s always looking at the next one, the next championship,” Bruschi went on. “That was always remarkable to me. Even in practice, everything he did, he tried to be perfect. He’d get very upset if it wasn’t. It was that competitiveness in him that I really respected.”
Being tied with Montana for most playoffs wins (16) won’t be enough for Brady. If he doesn’t get No. 17 Sunday, he’ll be back for more, year after year, health willing.
“Being a sixth-round guy, I think he always feels he has something to prove,” said Willie McGinest, another former teammate. “He’s accomplished everything over and over and over again. But he’s one of those guys that always wants to be at his best. He doesn’t want to go into a situation and feel like he’s not prepared or gets outplayed by another team or another quarterback.”
McGinest told stories of how Patriots players in his time used to challenge each other over everything, from who was in the weight room earliest to dominoes to who hydrated most. Brady always wanted to win, and got angry if he didn’t. He’s still that way.
“I think in his mind, he wants to be the best quarterback to play the game ever by the time he retires,” McGinest said. “That’s why he says he’ll play til he’s 40 or after.”
Brady’s already etched in the record books many times, 11 years into his career: most touchdown passes in a season (50), most pass attempts without an interception (358) and best regular-season record (124-35) of any quarterback with 50 starts in the Super Bowl era, among others.
McGinest says he works out with Brady on the West Coast during the offseason, and that the man is meticulous.
“He takes care of himself,” McGinest said. “He keeps himself together. He does everything he can to keep that edge.”
Wide receiver Chad Ochocinco met Brady at several Pro Bowls before becoming a Patriot this season. The experience of playing with him and seeing how he operates up close, he said, has been even more than he expected.
“I knew why he was great. I know why all players are great. For one, they work. People that reach that level, you work at it,” Ochocinco said. “But then to come here, and see the little things he does, that separates him from the rest. And to be able to study his habits, and pick up stuff that he’s been doing . . . it’s been a joy man, a real joy.”
Three Super Bowls? Four? Does it really matter?
“He’s one of the great players of all time,” said former rival coach Tony Dungy. “If he gets his fourth, it will tie him with Bradshaw and Montana. Then, can he get his fifth to separate himself from these other guys? That’ll be the only thing winning a fourth does in my mind. It’ll motivate him to come back the next two or three years to win the next one. But whether he’s won three or four, he’s already in the conversation.”