Is Brady’s biggest advantage relative to other all time greats his longevity?

[patriotsheatyan]

He has been in the NFL for 19 years without a big drop off. He only missed his rookie season (hurting bulk numbers but probably not much else) and 2008 (which probably hurts his legacy more given the likelihood of posting serious numbers and competing for MVP/SB). He’ll almost certainly be back for a 20th season, but currently has 17 seasons without being crippled or washed up. 

Relative to other all time great QBs, is this his greatest advantage?

[August4th]

I think so

He has been adding to his legacy in the last 3-4 yrs when most legends were retired or falling off a cliff when they reached their late 30's

[JAF-N72EX]

*Sigh* This is going to be a long off-season...

[ET80]

34 minutes ago, patriotsheatyan said:

Relative to other all time great QBs, is this his greatest advantage?

That's what you can say about a lot of the all time greats - Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, Ray Lewis, Bruce Smith, etc. You don't start fir 10+ years unless there's a combination of health and skills that evolve over time to keep an edge.

It's really a key attribute that's common in a lot of the all time greats.

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

Y’all know the Patriots have their own forum, right??

[patriotsheatyan]

19 minutes ago, LETSGOBROWNIES said:

Y’all know the Patriots have their own forum, right??

You know there are only two teams left about to play in the countries biggest sporting event of the year?

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

6 minutes ago, patriotsheatyan said:

You know there are only two teams left about to play in the countries biggest sporting event of the year?

It’s been made pretty clear, yes.  

Maybe another thread would really hammer the point home tho, huh?

 

[Dome]

25 minutes ago, LETSGOBROWNIES said:

It’s been made pretty clear, yes.  

Maybe another thread would really hammer the point home tho, huh?

 

I’m on it

[Plat2]

His longevity is one of the best I have ever seen in ALL of sports, not just as a QB and a football player...is that what your asking?

[x0x]

I guess if you mean the opportunity to add Super Bowls. He could have retired after losing to Broncos in 2015 for example at 38 with 6 appearances and 4 victories. Montana, Elway and Marino all retired at that age with the ability to keep playing at a reasonable level (Marino had an injured season lowering his stats but still won a playoff game on a comeback).

Favre set the bar high though as he could have retired too at 38 after a great year with the Pack but played 3 more seasons, 2 of which were MVP calibre (yes the Jets until he tore his bicep he was rock solid go get informed). He played 18 full seasons in the NFL, which is 1 more than Brady. Moon also had stellar age 39 and 41 seasons especially considering the era (95 & 97).

 

Now Brees is also 40 and holds the major career yards and completion records and will likely get the TD record next year. We'll see how his career ends. Brady has a chance to retire with the TDs record if he out-plays Brees by 2 seasons.

[mission27]

20 hours ago, x0x said:

Now Brees is also 40 and holds the major career yards and completion records and will likely get the TD record next year. We'll see how his career ends. Brady has a chance to retire with the TDs record if he out-plays Brees by 2 seasons.

Tbf Brady holds the real record for both yards and touchdowns

[tom cody]

It helps towards it for sure. When Brady won that Super Bowl vs. Atlanta in 2017 that's when I said he became the greatest. Another Super Bowl would only add to that.