The day after...

New team.  Same result.  NFL Quarterback Tom Brady, now playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, played in the 10th Super Bowl game of his career and led his team to its second ever Super Bowl victory (the Buccaneers also won Super Bowl XXXVII in 2002) in Super Bowl LV last night.  Brady has now played in more Super Bowls than any other player (ten), won more Super Bowls (seven) as a player than any franchise (both the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers have each won six Super Bowls), and he has received the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award more than any other player in history (five - NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback, Joe Montana won the MVP award three times during his career).

What's remarkable is that Brady's former team, the New England Patriots, let him go at the end of the 2019 season.  After playing for 20 seasons in New England, Brady wanted a multi-year contract and the Patriots didn't want to give him one.  As far as quarterbacks go, Brady isn't just old (he is 43 years old), he's ancient.  It's incredibly rare that NFL quarterbacks can maintain the same level of consistency in their late 30's, let alone their early 40's.  His final season with the Patriots was less than Brady-like, so given his age and the decline in performance, you can't necessarily fault the Patriots for refusing to give him a multi-year contract.  So, Brady left the Patriots and signed with another team (the Buccaneers).

The surprise ending to this story is that while Brady won his 7th Super Bowl with his second team, his former team failed to make the play-offs and experienced their first losing season since before Brady played there.  I've gone on record several times (see "The Patriot Way", "The Patriot Way Redux", and "That makes it twice...") about the fact that regardless of whether you like NewEngland Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the Patriots organization, you have to admire the kind of culture that they have built over the years.  And now, it seems that maybe Tom Brady had more to do with that culture than I or anyone else has given him credit for.  

Social media last night hasn't been particularly kind to Brady.  He has previously supported the 45th President of the Untied States and has claimed that "they are good friends."  There were several pictures of the two Super Bowl quarterbacks entering the stadium before the game yesterday afternoon - Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was wearing a face mask, while Brady was not.  There have been accusations about cheating in the past (see "Deflategate").  Regardless of his political views or who he chosen to hang out with, there has to be more to Tom Brady's winning ways than pure athletic talent.  One can admire his leadership on the field and in the locker room without necessarily agreeing with what he does off the field.  

Character matters - you can't be a leader without it.  But again, there is absolutely no way (zero chance!) that Tom Brady wins 7 Super Bowls without being a good leader in his chosen profession.  Look - I don't know Tom Brady.  I have no idea what he believes about COVID-19 and wearing masks.  I don't know whether he agrees with or supports everything that the last President has said or done - I certainly hope that he does not (and there's some evidence to support that he doesn't).  I wish he would use his superstar status to advocate for matters that are important to me and should be important to all of us.  But let's not use his political beliefs as an argument against whether he is the greatest football player or the greatest athlete of all time.

Regardless of whether you personally like him or not, you have to admit that Brady's body of work as a football player support the argument that he is the greatest player of all time (G.O.A.T.) in football.  Many would argue that he is "the best ever in all sports".  Brady's resume is certainly impressive and deserving of these kinds of discussions.  

Again, social media has literally blown up overnight with arguments for and against his status in the pantheon of all-time sports legends.  Other professional athletes mentioned as deserving the GOAT label include tennis star Serena Williams who has won 39 total tennis Grand Slam (Australian Open, U.S. Open, French Open, or Wimbledon) in singles (23), doubles (14), and mixed doubles (2) and current NBA star, LeBron James.  I would also include NBA Hall of Famer Bill Russell, who led his team, the Boston Celtics, to eleven NBA Championships, in any GOAT discussion.  

Each and every one of these athletes (I would argue that James should finish his career before being considered worthy of GOAT status) is deserving for their contributions to both their individual sport and to sports in general.  However, their feats of greatness couldn't be more different.  Maybe we should just celebrate their accomplishments in total and not argue about who is deserving of the greatest athelete of all time.  Maybe we should simply recognize that we don't have to agree with someone in order to admire what he or she has accomplished in his or her chosen profession.