Brady's Legacy Very Much Intact, Despite Super Bowl Loss
BOSTON (CBS) - Tom Brady is in decline. This much, you can't really argue.
That doesn't, however, mean he's not a great quarterback. Far from it.
Yet, in the wake of Sunday's loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI, the second consecutive mediocre performance from Brady, many pundits are quick to say that the future Hall of Famer's legacy is "tarnished."
Nonsense.
Yes, Brady has lost two Super Bowls, but he's led his team to five. In the history of the NFL, only Brady and a legend named John Elway can claim to have done that.
"I hope we do get back here again," Brady said after the heartbreaking 21-17 loss on Sunday. "I've been lucky enough to play in this game five times in 10 years. I'd love to keep coming back to this game and taking a shot. It's better than sitting home and not playing in this game, so I hope another opportunity comes."
Brady has now lost two Super Bowls, but he's also won three. Only Hall of Famers Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana and Troy Aikman can claim the same. He could lose the next 10 Super Bowls, but he'll always have his three victories. They're not going anywhere.
Despite the fact that he cemented his place in history seven years ago when he was just 27 years old, the overreactions to Super Bowl XLVI have run rampant.
"No longer will he be in that conversation about being the best ever," Rob Parker said on ESPN this week. "Everything was set up and Tom Brady couldn't make a simple pass in a clutch situation. Instead now, when you look at him, you know what he is? He's just another guy. He's just another guy who's won multiple Super Bowls."
It was nice of Parker to include that little qualifier at the end, but it's still wrong. Terry Bradshaw is "just another quarterback who's won multiple Super Bowls." So is Ben Roethlisberger, and so is Jim Plunkett. Brady is much, much more.
First, there are the stats. His 5,235 yards this year -- at age 34 -- were the second-most ever thrown in an NFL season, trailing only Drew Brees' 2011 campaign. His 50 touchdowns in the 2007 were the most ever in a single season.
If he plays three more seasons at a high level, he'll be fourth all time in touchdown passes, trailing Peyton Manning, Dan Marino and Brett Favre, and he has an outside shot of passing Manning. Brady's there despite just 115 career interceptions, compared to Manning's 198, Marino's 252 interceptions and Favre's 336, the gold standard for NFL interception-throwers.
Stats aside, Brady has excelled like no other when it comes to the very reason the players step on the field each week: winning. Brady is 124-35 (78.0 winning percentage) as a starter in the regular season. For comparison, Montana was 117-47 (71.3 percent), Roger Staubach was 85-30 (73.9 percent), ( Elway was 148-82-1 (64.1 percent), Johnny Unitas was 118-64-4 (63.4 percent), Marino was 147-93 (61.3 percent), Steve Young was 94-49 (65.7 percent) and Favre was 186-112 (62.4 percent). Among active quarterbacks, Peyton Manning is 141-67 (67.8 percent), Drew Brees is 92-61 (60.1 percent), Eli Manning is 69-50 (58 percent).
In the playoffs, Brady is 16-6. Montana went 16-7. No other quarterback has ever won 16 playoff games.
If all of those numbers only worked to confuse you, here's the abbreviated version: Brady is better at winning than any other quarterback, and that's what the sport is all about.
In the discussion for "greatest quarterback of all time," Brady might not be atop the list, but he's without question still in the discussion. Another Super Bowl victory, and another few seasons throwing passes to Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, and he could very well be No. 1.
Despite all the evidence to the contrary, some have been too quick to turn Sunday's loss into a legacy-defining performance.
"Joe Montana's on a different level, and Tom Brady had a chance to be in that conversation," Parker said on ESPN. "He will never, ever be in that conversation again."
"He has morphed from Mr. Clutch to Mr. Choke in the biggest games," CBS' Pete Prisco wrote. "Forget Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw. He's become Jim Kelly. LeBron James. Alex Rodriguez. Dare I say it: A ppppppplayoff choker."
Making such absurd claims are simply taking the events of this year or last year and wrongly placing them in historical context. Jim Kelly, LeBron James and Alex Rodriguez have a combined one championship, equal to one-third of Brady's.
(And where were the "playoff choker" stories after Brady threw six touchdowns against Denver? And no credit to the defenses of Baltimore or New York?)
It's all just a little bit sensational and a whole lot wrong.
No, history won't remember Wes Welker's drop that could have sealed a Patriots victory, or Rob Gronkowski's busted ankle that may have prevented him from breaking up an interception, or Logan Mankins getting beat to allow Justin Tuck a free shot at the quarterback. History will only remember the Super Bowl record: 3-2.
In the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately culture of 2012, it's important to remember that the "3" is infinitely more important than the "2."
