The Greatest of All Time

By Richard Rogers
It’s usually around the Super Bowl and the NBA Finals when the conversations emerge about “the greatest of all time”. There have been many proclamations over the last week making Tom Brady the greatest quarterback of all time. After all, he has five Super Bowl rings in seven trips, including back to back titles in 2004 and 2005. That’s hard to argue. Bill Belichick has been the architect of this incredible run, coaching a team of mostly middle and late round draft picks to championship glory. But are Tom Brady and Bill Belichick the greatest EVER to play quarterback and coach in the National Football League?

It’s hard to determine the greatest ever in anything. What’s the criteria? Is it championships? If that’s the case Robert Horry, with his seven championship rings, is better than Michael Jordan. Is it “clutch”? If you’re making that argument, then John Elway, Roger Staubach and Joe Montana could all wear the crown. There’s also the recency factor, in that, we tend to crown the last great performer as the “greatest”. But if you’ve ever seen Joe Montana or even John Elway play one could make the argument for them. After all, they played in an era before free agency and a time when rules were loose and quarterback and receivers were bludgeoned with impunity. Is it possible to crown a “greatest ever” across eras?

Bill Belichick won with the Browns before he was fired. Bill Belichick has more Super Bowls than any other coach in NFL history. Clearly that makes him the best, doesn’t it? I mean look at the Patriots’ roster. Where’s the star other than Brady? Where’s that diva receiver or that thousand yard running back? The answer is they don’t exist. Belichick has established the “Patriot Way” and everybody gets in line. There’s Walsh, Gibbs, Lombardi, Knoll, Landry, and Shula. Has Belichick eclipsed them? I challenge you to find Packers fans that would bestow such an honor to Belichick over “Saint Vince”.

Here’s the thing. There is no ONE thing. There’s a good argument to be made that Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are the greatest coach and QB of all time. The beauty of this argument is that there aren’t many wrong answers. Montana, Bradshaw, and Staubach were the greatest in my youth. Every time you look up, one of them was in a Super Bowl. Determining the greatest of all time is all in your imagination. There’s no one set answer. Stats make a case but don’t tell the full story. Championships are mandatory but don’t end there.

My position is this. Have fun with the conversation, but be prepared to show your work. There’s nothing worse than someone proclaiming an athlete the greatest ever with nothing to back up that claim. Pretend you’re stating your case to the Hall of Fame committee. So back to the Brady/Belichick argument: are they the greatest of all time? No, but I’m only saying that because I don’t want them to be, not because they aren’t.