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How do you feel about this now that Tom Brady has 5 SB's one in which was the greatest comeback on the greatest stage ever?

I did an article on this a few years back and the candidates where....

Wayne Gretzky
Babe Ruth
Michael Jordan
Jerry Rice
Joe Montana

Brady is now in that discussion at least.

Brady is Russell, not Jordan.

Brady winning another superbowl would seal it for me

if he retired today id still go towards yes though

Jordan doesn't have anything like those two loses to the Giants on his resume.

none is as controversial as he is. As time goes on the league will continue to run image control but the facts are they (the patriots) deserve multiple asterisks next to their winning seasons. I don't take anyone affiliated with NE (players, coaches) seriously. Getting old seeing this narrative get brought up every year.

Different sports, different crowds.

Apples to oranges.

I just have a problem with being a GOAT for a sport where essentially one country participates in. If I were to pick a GOAT for all sports, the sport itself needs to have more of a universal appeal in terms of participation as well as players.

Brady could be the greatest in his respective sport, but I don't think American Football carries enough weight as basketball, soccer or even the Olympics for that matter, for an individual athlete to be the GOAT. Global recognition is definitely a huge factor, especially when you're being compared to guys like Jordan, Phelps, Ali, Pele and etc.

None of these guys even sniff Babe Ruth's dominance.

In a "Big Four" sport, I don't think anyone can ever match Ruth's relative dominance.

How does this even work? You can barely compare QBs and RBs, and they are in the same sport. How do you compare a QB in football to a SG in basketball?!

Football is far too esoteric of a sport for any of its players to get serious consideration for GOAT sports player. And if the popularity of the sport doesn't matter then we should consider Lin Dan for badminton, Alexander Karelin for Greco-Roman wrestling, or Lim Yo-hwan for Starcraft.

Lionel Messi is surely in that conversation.

76thBearCub wrote:Different sports, different crowds.

Apples to oranges.

This. It's just not possible to accurately compare athletes from different sports.

Anyway, If accolades and dominance are the measuring stick, Jordan doesn't even crack the top 10. Good luck catching him, Brady, but it's pretty much impossible for you to be the GOAT athlete.

ESPN needs ratings they say all kinds of crazy things

kabstah wrote:Football is far too esoteric of a sport for any of its players to get serious consideration for GOAT sports player. And if the popularity of the sport doesn't matter then we should consider Lin Dan for badminton, Alexander Karelin for Greco-Roman wrestling, or Lim Yo-hwan for Starcraft.

When it comes to in-sport dominance, from everything I've seen there's Sir Donald Bradman in cricket and EVERYONE else. It's literally unfathomable how it's possible his batting numbers are that much better than every other player to have existed, even his biggest challenger Sachin Tendulkar. And all that guy has on him is longevity.

Ali.

^ Ali says hi

The whole GOAT discussion is getting so overblown. Pardon the cliche, but comparing Brady to Jordan is apples to oranges. It's impossible to compare the greatness of Jordan, Brady, Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali, Tiger Woods, Messi, Gretzky, etc. because they play different sports in different eras. It's like arguing who is a greater musician, Jimi Hendrix or Bach.

Brady is a phenomenal athlete. He's one of the most accomplished players ever, and certainly one of the greatest to ever do it. Let's just appreciate that.

Buckeye-NBAFan wrote:Brady is Russell, not Jordan.

Bart Starr is Russell...Only other qb with as many NFL titles as Brady...5...great qb, but surrounded by hall of famers, and the goat coach..sound familiar?...to top it off..same decade too!..MJ is second only to Celtics in titles, and Brady is right there with Starr, but has the most SB's...Both MJ and Brady perform like no other in their respective sports on the biggest stage too!...Thats how the comparison started...What Brady has done on that stage is the only comparison to MJ in that regard that Ive seen...

GoRapstheoriginal wrote:Ali.

Winner