“I Did It My Way”

5. Tom Brady: The first half of the list flew by. This next player has done it all for years and continues to do it at the highest level. Isn’t it amazing how many of his counterparts playing the position have retired over the years yet he’s still playing football? Let’s go down the list. Peyton Manning is now in the Hall of Fame, Eli Manning retired, Philip Rivers called it a career in January, and in March, Drew Brees decided to hang it up. This quarterback as he likes to say is still here. For the tenth in the history of this series, he’s back on the list with the most appearances of any other player. Tom Brady, welcome back my good sir. He checks in as my fifth-best player in the NFL and third-ranked quarterback entering the season.

Last year, he continued the trend of legendary quarterbacks who’ve spent their entire careers with one team and left to play elsewhere. With everything he’s accomplished in his career, you would think he would put everything into perspective which I’m sure he has. After all these years, I still see a guy playing with a chip on his shoulder. He still has that fire and desire to be great. Let it sink in that the man has won seven Super Bowl trophies. Although it took him a while to get acclimated with things in Tampa, when he got comfortable, he never looked back. Tom still makes all the big-time passes. He’s still pocket savvy and even as he plays into his 40s, the arm strength is still there. At this point of his career, he’s seen every blitz and every coverage imaginable. Good luck trying to fool him now.

When people continued to keep writing him off and said he was done, he just kept winning games. For the first time in his career, Tom started a playoff game on the road. One win turned into two wins, two wins turned into three and he was in his tenth Super Bowl in his stadium in Tampa Bay. His first year in the NFC: Leads the Buccaneers to 11 wins, wins the NFC Championship, and helps bring the franchise their second Super Bowl in franchise history. He has as many NFC titles as Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan (one). Let’s see what he does this year in year two with the Bucs.

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