There’s one position that everyone knows when it comes to the sport of football and that’s the Quarterback. I can sit here and say I’ve seen some good ones over the years. Although I didn’t see them in the primes of their career, I was able to catch the final seasons of Dan Marino and John Elway. I was fortunate to see Brett Favre and his legendary ironman streak where he didn’t miss a game with the Green Bay Packers. Or, how about Peyton Manning? From 2003 to 2009, he was arguably the best Quarterback in the league and during that time span I mentioned, he won four league MVP awards. Then, you had a kid the New England Patriots drafted in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft with the 199th overall pick named Tom Brady out of the University of Michigan. A year ago today, the iconic Quarterback announced on Instagram he was retiring. 45 days later in 2022, he announced he was coming back. On February 1st, a full calendar year later, the future Hall of Famer announced his retirement once again and says this time, it’s for good.
Number 12 is the greatest Quarterback I’ve ever seen step on a field and throw the football. I also think many would concur with that opinion as well. This debate was settled after he won his fifth Super Bowl title back in 2017 with the Patriots. Tom was never the quickest player, nor was he the biggest or strongest. He just had that will in him to win and that’s what separated him from many of his peers in this league. I always saw a guy that was working harder than anyone on the field and even as a veteran, I saw a football player with a serious chip on his shoulder. Tom consistently did the little things on a regular basis which made him great. He made every pass imaginable. The check down passes, hitting receivers in stride over the middle and when he had a receiver to stretch the field vertically, he could bomb the ball down the field. As I said for years, there wasn’t a throw the man couldn’t make! Tom had a way to elude pressure with movement in the pocket. He was never mobile at any point in his career, even in his prime. He had phenomenal movement in the pocket and evaded pressure better than many others playing the position. It was also his footwork. Last year, I remembered saying if he were shorter, he’d still be successful playing Quarterback. One thing Tom never received much credit for was his intellect. He was phenomenal at reading coverages and finding the best mismatch possible to exploit a defense. Outside of Drew Brees, number 12 was excellent at spreading the ball around to the open receiver and throwing defenses off their gameplan. If you were open, you were getting the football, but if you dropped it, you weren’t and that meant he didn’t trust you. For years, people have asked me when’s his best season and I never hesitate to say 2007 which was the beginning of his prime. With a star receiver in Randy Moss, Tom put together the best statistical season of his career by throwing 50 touchdown passes and was named MVP that year. What made him great was it didn’t matter who he was throwing the football too. He found a way to make it work. Nothing mattered other than winning, which he did a lot of.
The accomplishments on his resume speak for themselves. He retires as the all-time leader in touchdown passes thrown with 649, 35 wins in the playoffs which is the most ever for a Quarterback, ten Super Bowl appearances, seven Super Bowl titles, five Super Bowl MVP awards, three league MVP awards and he’s a two-time Offensive Player of the Year winner (2007, 2010). Hate him or love him, he was the definition of consistency year in and out. He always did it at the highest level, even as he got older. When you put the work in, greatness will come and that’s exactly what I can say Tom Brady did. He earned it. I’ve enjoyed every moment I got to watch him, break down his game and preview some of the biggest matchups in his career. The next team he’ll be a member of is the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2028. It was such a pleasure to watch him become a legend. Congrats on an amazing career and thank you for all you did for the game of football. It was an honor to break you down.
