OT: GOAT of all GOATs

[8893]

Lawrence Taylor.

Brady is lucky he played after Taylor's career.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Lawrence Taylor.

Brady is lucky he played after Taylor's career.

All today's QB's are lucky they didn't play in the 70's and 80's. Look at those hits Bradshaw took while playing on artificial turf.

Not just LT. Think about Deacon Jones, Butkus, Ray Nitschke (sp?), Ted Hendricks, etc. They'd go right after your head, spin you around and absolutely try and drive you in to the ground.

 

[Lefty2one]

This is a subjective discussion but I think the one thing that must be done is to separate team athletes from individual sport athletes. I don't see how someone can compare Usain Bolt to Michael Jordan. There are way too many variables that go into team sport success.

 

[alphasigko]

Jack Nicklaus

 

[alphasigko]

All today's QB's are lucky they didn't play in the 70's and 80's. Look at those hits Bradshaw took while playing on artificial turf.

Not just LT. Think about Deacon Jones, Butkus, Ray Nitschke (sp?), Ted Hendricks, etc. They'd go right after your head, spin you around and absolutely try and drive you in to the ground.

Jack Lambert and Jack Ham

 

[Deepster]

Jack Lambert and Jack Ham

I had a good friend that went to college in Pittsburgh. At a frat formal they were in a hotel bar and Jack Lambert showed up drunk. He put his arm around my buddy's shoulder and said "20 years ago, I would have taken you out back, beat the out of you then ffed your girlfriend" and he laughed and bought a couple rounds and moved on.

My friend said he was never more scared for his life than in that moment.

 

[Dogdeacon]

The semantics debate about an athlete or athleticism is really weird. It takes incredible eye hand coordination for most ball sports. Athleticism isn’t simply jumping & running, it’s moving in a coordinated manner to produce results.

Regarding Ruth, throwing a baseball hard (90+) is something even the strongest greatest athletes can’t do and hitting a baseball is acknowledged as one of if not the hardest thing to do in sports. It’s only fair to measure guys vs their era and the babe dominated his like no other.

 

[storrsroars]

I'm bumping this to acknowledge that Brady is now the first NFL player to win in four different countries (USA, Mexico, England, and now Germany).

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Bill Russell

If you ask Bill Russell there was no one even close to Wilt Chamberlain who also was one of his the greatest pure athletes of all time.

Russell’s remarks about him are legend . He would laugh that great laugh and say “ I could hold him to 40 and 25 on my good nights , I must of been pretty good.”
Another great athlete was Josh Gibson who played many years in the Negro League as a catcher. Batting .441 one year. Hitting legendary HRS.
Sachal Page remarked about him “an athlete with that ability is created once a millennium “

 

[Improviser]

The semantics debate about an athlete or athleticism is really weird. It takes incredible eye hand coordination for most ball sports. Athleticism isn’t simply jumping & running, it’s moving in a coordinated manner to produce results.

Regarding Ruth, throwing a baseball hard (90+) is something even the strongest greatest athletes can’t do and hitting a baseball is acknowledged as one of if not the hardest thing to do in sports. It’s only fair to measure guys vs their era and the babe dominated his like no other.

Measuring guys by their era is totally fair because it takes into consideration the talent level of their competition and the training regimen then available for the other players in that sport.

Today, with modern technology like practice videos for players to view, and with studies on exercise physiology and exercise modalities and modern equipment to develop strength and co-ordination, measuring by era makes complete sense.

I suppose people won't give up on video simulations of Ruth vs. Judge. In boxing, somebody came up with one pitting Rocky Marciano vs. Ali.

 

[superjohn]

I'm bumping this to acknowledge that Brady is now the first NFL player to win in four different countries (USA, Mexico, England, and now Germany).

Also the first to ever play in four different countries.

 

[HitDog]

Another point in Brady's favor, he is 2nd all time in receiving yards for players over 40 years old.

 

[BGesus4]

GOAT is Joe Namath.

If you have any other opinion you werent there, and if you pull stats, you dont know.

“There” meaning the Suzie Kolber interview? Asking for a friend

 

[HuskyHawk]

Another point in Brady's favor, he is 2nd all time in receiving yards for players over 40 years old.

If he hadn't slipped on Sunday, he might be first

I thought it was appropriate the the fans in Munich sang Sweet Caroline during Brady's post game interview on the field. Wrong sport, and he's not in Boston anymore, but it felt right.

I voted Gretzky, but there can never be just one.

 

[uconngb]

“There” meaning the Suzie Kolber interview? Asking for a friend

all time classic

 

[Tex-Lager93]

Greatest athlete - my vote goes to Bo Jackson. The abilities shown in football, baseball and track (as a decathlete) are just absurd. He may not hold any records because of the hip injury - but possibly the most well rounded athlete ever.

 

[Palatine]

The only correct answer.

MJ? . Jordan is 5th in points, 3rd in steals. He would need to have almost 25% more points to equal Gretzky's lead over #2.

Assists are even more absurd. He has more assists than any other player has goals PLUS assists.

Wilt has better numbers and Russel won more.

Neither had the hype train (based on off court merchandising) of Jordan. MJ is the goat of cashing in.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

All today's QB's are lucky they didn't play in the 70's and 80's. Look at those hits Bradshaw took while playing on artificial turf.

Not just LT. Think about Deacon Jones, Butkus, Ray Nitschke (sp?), Ted Hendricks, etc. They'd go right after your head, spin you around and absolutely try and drive you in to the ground.

Wide receivers got hit hard on or off the ball. They didn’t talk as much either.
Guys careers were cut short due to the brutality , when size and athleticism exploded some might say with enhancements applying rules made for smaller and slower guys had to be changed.
The mid to late 70’s into the 80’s was its height.
If you ever saw guys like Jack Tatum layout a wideout you would understand.

 

[Palatine]

A big part of Brady's goat status belongs to Gisele. She allowed Brady to play for less salary than his elite status demanded. This allowed the Patriots to play with a salary cap larger than the rest of the league. So they were able to add a Randy Moss or elite defender while the rest of the league could not. It gave them an advantage over the rest of the NFL.

Patriot fans know this even if they don't acknowledge it.

And yes, LT would sent Brady into space.

 

[August_West]

“There” meaning the Suzie Kolber interview? Asking for a friend

It was a bit cringey and inappropriate on national TV, but in NYC bars in late 60's early 70's it was a feature not a bug.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Brady for team sports. 7 rings and playing into his 40s might not be replicated during my lifetime.

I’ll just throw Jon Jones out there for individuals. People hate him, but denying his greatness is silly. The most complete MMA athlete I’ve ever seen. Being the best at something that threatens your physical safety gets you extra points in my book. So Ali is up there of course.

 

[cullaville]

Joe Dimaggio

My Dad saw the Yankees in all their glory years from the twenties through the fifties and always said Joe D was the best.

A great stat - he hit 361 home runs and only stuck out 369 times.

On top of that he was a classy guy.

 

[Dogdeacon]

A big part of Brady's goat status belongs to Gisele. She allowed Brady to play for less salary than his elite status demanded. This allowed the Patriots to play with a salary cap larger than the rest of the league. So they were able to add a Randy Moss or elite defender while the rest of the league could not. It gave them an advantage over the rest of the NFL.

Patriot fans know this even if they don't acknowledge it.

And yes, LT would sent Brady into space.

That is a weird take. Is there a subtraction for whatever $ Brady owes to Bridget Moynihan? Offset by TB12 income or did that not manifest until after the 4th or 5th or 7th Super Bowl win when the alleged supermodel income enable the Patriots dynasty?
Do you have a precise amount to apply for the family or individual net worth that permits taking less salary?
Any other athletes historically that you are mad at for family money or other instances where a wife can be used to discount an athlete and team success?

 

[Palatine]

That is a weird take. Is there a subtraction for whatever $ Brady owes to Bridget Moynihan? Offset by TB12 income or did that not manifest until after the 4th or 5th or 7th Super Bowl win when the alleged supermodel income enable the Patriots dynasty?
Do you have a precise amount to apply for the family or individual net worth that permits taking less salary?
Any other athletes historically that you are mad at for family money or other instances where a wife can be used to discount an athlete and team success?

Brady played for less money than he was worth. That helped the Patriots not Brady, so his business dealing don't come into it.

Gisele was making enough for the family on her own. Probably enough to even carry her husband's poor business ventures.

It's not a weird take. It's a fact. The Patriots were playing with one salary cap the the rest of the NFL was playing with another -lesser- salary cap. The Patriots still had to make good decisions with their roster and the team still had to be coached and play well. However, any assessment of Brady's career must include the financial advantage the Patriots had in constructing their roster. The Pats were able to surround Brady with a cast that other teams -who payed their elite QBs what they were worth- simply could not.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Brady played for less money than he was worth. That helped the Patriots not Brady, so his business dealing don't come into it.

Gisele was making enough for the family on her own. Probably enough to even carry her husband's poor business ventures.

It's not a weird take. It's a fact. The Patriots were playing with one salary cap the the rest of the NFL was playing with another -lesser- salary cap. The Patriots still had to make good decisions with their roster and the team still had to be coached and play well. However, any assessment of Brady's career must include the financial advantage the Patriots had in constructing their roster. The Pats were able to surround Brady with a cast that other teams -who payed their elite QBs what they were worth- simply could not.

In every team sport, players on rookie - initial contracts make way less than established veterans = your take requires discounting every team sport championship based on some psychotic scale of what each player deserved for a salary and then what they actually got paid. The are constant examples EVERY YEAR of players with below 'market' contracts enabling more salaries for rosters. Lots of basketball guys have taken less money purposefully. The GOAT Michael Jordan is almost inarguably the most underpaid athlete ever (salary wise) for what he generated. Is he too less of a GOAT b/c of bad contracts or Nike deals that enabled even the uber cheap Bulls to construct championship rosters.
Your line "Patriots fans know this but don't acknowledge it" speaks to your pathology. I assume in this fantasy of yours New Englanders twist & turn in bed riddled with guilt & imposter syndrome - fearing deep down that it was ALL (after the 1st 3 Super Bowls) Giselle Bundchen!