Tom Brady Compares Himself to Patrick Mahomes in a Way That is Both a Great Compliment and a Huge Flex

Carmen Mandato. Getty Images.

Life comes at you fast. Why it seems like it was only an hour ago Tom Brady was in the NFL, making otherwise fearless men tremble at the sound of his approach and rue the day they ever heard his name announced over a stadium PA system. 

Yet as we enter now the THIRD season without him, he's fast forwarded through all the honors a truly great athlete receives. He's already had his number retired. Was inducted into his team's Hall of Fame. Has seen his likeness cast in bronze and  preserved for all eternity.

And has quickly entered that Elder Statesman phase of his career where he's being asked to put the current players into historical perspective. Like Ted Williams in the 1980s giving interviews with Wade Boggs and Don Mattingly and giving his assessment of Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire in the '90s. He doesn't look it, but he's now the old, retired legend who gets asked to compare players of today to himself, like he's from a whole other era. Because in a way, he is.

Which brings us to this conversation he just had:

Daily Mail - Tom Brady did not have to think hard to determine which current NFL quarterback is most like him, as he selected a former foe who he has shown massive respect to in previous instances - Patrick Mahomes. …

In retirement, Brady has given Mahomes plenty of kudos, with his most recent chat being no exception. 

'It’s always that line about who wants to win versus who’s willing to do whatever it takes to win,' Brady said to Joel Klatt. 'Everyone wants to win, but what are the habits and the daily habits and the actionable things you need to do every day to put your team in a position to win?'

'So Patrick Mahomes, to me, is the one that does that the most often because who he is, obviously his physical talent, how he understands what he needs to do offensively, and he brings a consistent winning attitude to work every single day. In the biggest moments you can depend on him the most. That’s clear.'

That's an interesting answer for any number of reasons. First, that one might argue stylistically, some of the more pure pocket passers like Joe Burrow or Jared Goff might be closer comps to Brady. The kinds of QBs who excel with sound mechanics, accuracy, play action, and making plays within the scheme. As opposed to Mahomes' style of escaping the pocket, improvisation, making throws out of structure, and gaining yards on the ground.

Secondly, there's no questioning the similarities between him and Mahomes when it comes to success. No one else in the game comes close when it comes to multiple championships, postseason success, individual awards, records and the like. You'd have to go back generations to find any other quarterback who even belongs in the conversation. (And don't Peyton Manning me with his 14-13 postseason record and NINE one-and-dones. I won't hear of it.) So this is quite a compliment. And an appropriate one.

But to me, the real interesting part of Tom Brady's opinion of Patrick Mahomes is less what it says about Patrick Mahomes as much as it says about Tom Brady. Imagine being so great at your job that you get to choose to compare yourself to a rival you positively dominated. At least when it mattered most.

In career games, head-to-head, both QBs were 3-3. With comparable passing stats. Via Pro Football Reference:

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But the two times they faced each other with a Super Bowl on the line, it wasn't even close:

That's a level of dominance no other person in any field of an endeavor can realistically ever hope to achieve. Where the only contemporary you can compare yourself to is one whose dreams you crushed. Twice. It's the boot comparing itself to the ant it just squashed, because no other bug can compare to it. Reverse those numbers and the results of the 2018 AFC Championship and Super Bowl LV, and no one is allowing you to argue Brady was better than Mahomes. But those games are in both players' permanent record. 

None of this is meant to denigrate Mahomes. Even as I appreciate this little gem:

On the contrary. It's merely to point out the Grand Canyon-sized gulf between him and the One True GOAT. The longer Brady is away from the field and in the broadcast booth, the more we get to comprehend just how dominant he was.