labianca2016 wrote: Kagemusha wrote: In my mind the only possible argument against Brady could be that he is playing under arguably the best football coach of all times. In New England even Matt Cassell looked like a legitimate starter. To determine his legacy it will be important to see how Belichick does when he retires, if the team stays so dominant. I guess my retort to that would be that all of the QBs in the serious discussion (Bradshaw, Montana, etc.) were at the time being led by coaches that were considered to be the best in the business. Success at a team sport blurs accountability as it's the sum of all the parts that wins. Part of the reason why I don't like having "best" discussions unless we're talking something like golf.

There is always a large amount of luck involved. Brady was once benching on a side that didn't score a TD. Imagine if he hadn't been given an opportunity.

Then professional hockey players are wildly slanted towards players born the start of the year (as they play in better teams underage as they have an extra few months on people in the same age group and end up getting spotted easier).

Even in individual sports a lot comes down to coaching and chances given earlier in life.

I like the Elway pick, but I'm sticking with Montana. He did it in High School, College and the Pros and is one of the best pressure QBs of all time. There are so many examples, it's not even funny. His first two games in College, during his sophomore season were comeback wins. He came in with about 5 mins left against North Carolina, down 6-14, in about 2 mins of game time led them to 2 TDs and 1 2pt conversion to win 21-14. The next week against Air Force, he entered the game in the 4th quarter, down 10-30. 3tds later, Notre Dame won 31-30. Separated his shoulder the next season, so redshirted. Came back in his red-shirt junior season as 3rd string qb. Didn't play the first two games, then due to injuries to other guys, he came into game 3 against Purdue, down 14-24 with 11 mins to go. Notre Dame won 31-24. He went on to lead them to the national title that season. They would have won the National title the next season too, only his come from behind TD against USC was matched by USC's last second field goal. Even so, he had one more college special game in the Cotton Bowl, where he was suffering from hypothermia and his team down 12-34 late in the 3rd quarter, he returned to the field and threw for 3 TDs, the last one as time expired to win 35-34. Needless to say, his NFL legend is well known, but if I had one game to win, I'd take Montana in his prime, but Elway would be one heck of an alternative. That said, if Belichick was the coach, I'd take whatever QB he had at the time

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000724524/article/tom-brady-joe-montana-head-top-10-quarterbacks-in-nfl-history

""""Favre was a one-man wrecking crew with a decent defense in the mid-'90s (a defense that was never as good as Rodgers' 2010 unit), winning three MVPs in a row from 1995 to '97""""

Elliot Harrison is one of the worst writers on NFL.com, and I've been saying this for years. He never fact-checks his shit and always writes TMZ-like stories.

Favre's Packers had a top-10 defense all those years. They had the #1 ranked defense in the league in the year they won the Super Bowl.

Rodgers had the #28 ranked defense in 2010.

I'm a Favre supporter, but you got to give Rodgers credit where credit is due. The guy won the Super Bowl with a garbage defense.

Dan22 wrote: Joe Montana has won more rings and superbowls and when in the playoffs has been absolutely perfect.

Joe Montana has been perfect in Super Bowls. He lost a NFCCG against Redskins in 1983, in WC against Giants in 1985 and also against Giants in 1986 and 1990, in divisional against Minnesota in 1987...