Defensive GOAT Lawrence Taylor Insists Tom Brady is Not the Offensive GOAT

Ray Stubblebine. Shutterstock Images.

The way I look at it, Tom Brady only retires every so often. And every time he does, it's only natural that the debate of whether or not he's the greatest player or the greatest quarterback ever is going to come up. Like his retirements, this question is a perennial that is going to bloom every year at this time. 

Last week, the contrarian voices were two of the many, many, many, many-many lesser quarterbacks Brady faced throughout his unprecedented career, and whose particles he left in the wind from his mighty flatulence, David Carr and Trent Dilfer:

For his part, Carr insists that Peyton Manning was Brady's better. An opinion that is no less preposterous because it's been so common throughout the years. Dilfer was much less specific, arguing that no QB of this era can be considered better than those from the last few generations, given that the former get protected and the latter were essentially hunted like animals that had bounties on their heads. (And no doubt sometimes, in a less civilized time, those bounties were very real.) Which is actually a point that has some merit. And is a factor that ought to be considered when comparing players from different eras, the way you do when talking about MLB numbers from the 1960s as opposed to the Golden Age of Anabolics. 

And so when no less an authority than Lawrence Taylor weighs in on the topic and makes the same point, he deserves to be listened to. 

You kids who don't know, because when you apply for something online and it only takes one swipe of your finger to scroll down to your year of birth, ask your dads. And listen less to their words about Taylor than the reverent tone in their voice. Even in the '80s and '90s, I hated the Giants like I hate soiling my pants, yet I always put respect in his name. To not admire Taylor was like having no appreciation for a sunset over the Grand Canyon or a storm over the ocean. He was that much a force of nature. Bill Belichick agrees and this highlight package will confirm:

And here is where Taylor weighs in on the Brady question:

CBS Sports - In an appearance on the "I Am Athlete" podcast, Taylor said Joe Montana holds the title of GOAT in his book. Taylor said Brady played in a more favorable era for quarterbacks, and defenses were more reluctant to hit him due to the fear of drawing a flag. Taylor said that would have been different if he had played against Brady.

"Joe Montana is still my man," Taylor said. "Still my man. You say greatest quarterbacks ever, I'm still with Joe Montana. I'm not going with Tom Brady. … Listen, Tom Brady got all the rules on his side. You can't touch him. You can't touch him. If you hit him, if you breathe on him, they're gonna throw a flag. 

"I don't understand how he drops back eight yards, and he sits in a little cocoon, and they're not sending people at him. Why is the defense not sending people? Man, let me tell you something. … If I'm playing, I'm hitting him every play. Even if I had to just pat him on the ass, I was right there beside you, brother."

Just to interject on a minor point: Taylor says teams should've sent extra rushers at Brady like over his 21 years as a starter, it never occurred to anyone. They did. Often. To their peril. The only time they didn't do it more is that when you took defenders out of his passing lanes, he tended to take a flamethrower to your secondary. Consider this from a few Super Bowls ago:

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But to his larger point about Brady vs. Montana, I'm not necessarily agreeing with him. But I don't reject it out of hand. As Aristotle put it, "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." So I'll show off my state college education and consider it. 

Twenty years ago I would've told you that without a doubt Montana was the best there had ever been. Even if someone wanted to argue some other QB like John Elway or Dan Marino or whomever, my tiebreaker was always that, in the third of the four Super Bowls where he famously never threw an interception, he needed to get the 49ers 92 yards for a touchdown with three minutes left or lose. Which he got. He went 8-for-9 on that drive, and the only incompletion came when he was hyperventilating and the sideline refused to call a timeout so he threw one into the ground to stop the clock and gather himself. 

And as Brady's career gained on Montana's that advantage still went to Joe Cool. But it simply got to the point where it was no longer close enough for a tiebreaker to apply. Brady simply just won too much and for too long for a possession arrow. Even if you allow for the different eras, you cannot account for him essentially doubling Montana up in wins, touchdowns, passing yards, postseason wins, and so on. The one-on-one comparison from Pro Football Reference:

Pick any category you like, Brady circumnavigated the statistical globe around Montana, great though he was. As I said when going over Brady's most impressive career numbers:

Joe Montana, who was considered the greatest winner ever in the pre-Brady era, has fewer than half the Brady's victory total. To pass him and regain his GOAT status, Joe would have to win 15 games a year for 10 years, and would still be three shy.

Furthermore, Brady has more road wins (124) than Brett Favre had home wins (123). And almost as many as Montana (65) and Aaron Rodgers (64) combined.  

You can allow for the change in eras. But there's no way to factor out that level of sustained success. And if you try to, I'll just counter that Montana played in an era where a great team could be held together because there was no free agency. The Niners teams he won his four rings with were largely the same. Including, I'll add, Jerry Rice, who was selected by the NFL as the greatest player in league history. (Two spots ahead of Taylor.) Whereas Brady was the only player on his fourth Super Bowl roster who had been on his first, and only Rob Gronkowski was on both his fourth and his seventh. 

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So no, I do not agree with Taylor. But I'll respectfully add that if anyone is in this GOAT discussion with Brady, it's him. And I will fight any man who tries to argue it's anyone who played in the same era as Brady. But out of a sense of both fairness and self-preservation, I'm not going to start trouble with Lawrence Taylor.