It’s absurd is what it is. In a sport like football where the NFL as a league discourages prolonged success through a hard salary cap… Tom Brady has won seven Super Bowl rings while getting to the Super Bowl eleven times in his career.
This is ludicrous.
The hard salary cap plus the avoidance of serious injury plus longevity easily in my mind make Tom Brady the greatest player in team sports history minus possibly Bill Russell as the GOAT.
The Bill Russell vs. Tom Brady is an argument for a different time perhaps after we see if Tom Brady can get to his 12th Super Bowl in the next two weeks.
I think today’s matchup this afternoon in Tampa is fascinating because it pits Matthew Stafford at 1-3 all-time in playoff games versus the GOAT.
You wonder what’s going in Matthew Stafford’s mind right now just hours before kick-off. In one game… Matthew Stafford could conceivably alter his Detroit Lion legacy.
I’ve always wondered what Barry Sanders would have done with his NFL legacy if he’d played two seasons away from the pathetic Detroit Lions. In my mind, Barry Sanders was the greatest college running back of all-time, but because of being shackled to the Lions we never got to see if he would have won a ring while playing on a decent team.
My dad was actually co-counsel once for Barry Sanders on a civil matter. I treasure the autographed pic my dad got for me even as an OU fan. Right there in my sports cave next to the autographed pic of Joe Carter.
I can’t wait to see this game later today. I’m going to go start up the chainsaw and do some work before kick-off to get in the right frame of mind. When you get into your sixties—it’s all about the chain saw, baby. The lab, then the chain saw. Just saying.
This is why we play, coach, and watch competitive sports. We do so to bring out the best of ourselves as humans who love the exalt of competition.
And at the end of the day that’s what trips Tom Brady’s trigger…which I think is kind of cool. Kind of like a Jonathan Livingston Seagull approach to his zen-like mastery of football.