Tom Brady: Why Another Super Bowl Ring Wouldn't Put Him Ahead of Joe Montana

The numbers that are being put up by today’s quarterbacks are simply ridiculous.

This season alone both Drew Brees and Tom Brady surpassed Dan Marino’s single-season passing yards record and six quarterbacks in total threw for over 4,500 yards. To put this in historical context, in 1984, the year that Marino set what was the previous record, no other quarterback threw for more than 4,000 yards, and Joe Montana was second in the league with 3630 yards.

This is one of the main reasons why it's so difficult to judge quarterbacks from different eras. One cannot just look at the numbers when comparing for example Tom Brady to Joe Montana. One must look at how the two quarterbacks compared to those of their own era, and to what degree, did they stand out from their contemporaries.

Eli Manning is receiving much praise for his recent success, and some are even saying another Super Bowl victory would make Eli a sure-fire Hall of Famer. A Hall of Famer should be someone who year after year performs comparably to the premier players at their respective position.

Eli has posted a career passer rating of 82.1 which is good for 41st all time. At first glance, 41st all time looks pretty solid. However, there are 20 current quarterbacks who have a higher career passer rating than Eli. This list includes the likes of Jason Campbell, Joe Flacco and Shaun Hill, all of whom are considered average quarterbacks at best.

Some people don’t believe in the legitimacy of passer rating so let’s look at another critical statistic. If you look at career completion percentage, Manning is not anymore impressive. Eli ranks 60th all time in completion percentage and is 29th among active quarterbacks.

A great way to judge a quarterback in comparison to their contemporaries is through major awards. MVP awards and All-Pro selections are the two most meaningful accolades to look at. Manning has never been named first or second-team All Pro, meaning in no season has Eli been thought of as a top two quarterback. Eli has only made two Pro Bowl teams in his entire career, which is an honor eight quarterbacks receive each season.

Of course, one has to look at postseason success when determining a quarterback’s all-time standing. Eli did perform very well during the 2007 playoffs and even better this postseason.  However, besides those two postseasons, Eli has struggled in the playoffs, and his play as a whole hasn’t been spectacular.

Due to all of this information, it’s a bit premature to say Eli is a Hall of Famer even if he wins another Super Bowl.

The two quarterbacks who are the most often compared to one another are Tom Brady and Joe Montana. Many fans believe that if Brady is able to lead the Patriots to another Super Bowl victory this season, he would surpass Joe Montana in terms of career achievement.

If one just looks at the stats on the surface, Brady has put up far superior numbers. Brady has thrown more touchdown passes than Montana, averages about 40 more passing yards per game and has a higher career passer rating. However, looking at the numbers a little closer, one discovers that they may not be what they seem.

Brady is currently ranked fourth all time in career passer rating while Montana is ranked 11th. There are two players from his era that rank above Brady in career passer rating (Aaron Rodgers, Tony Romo), while Montana has only one (Steve Young).

The two closest contemporaries behind Montana are Dan Marino who is ranked 17th and Jim Kelly who ranks 28th. For Brady, Phillip Rivers and Peyton Manning are right behind him ranked fifth and sixth respectively.

Brady has led the NFL in passing touchdowns on three different occasions compared to Montana who did it twice. Five times, Montana led the league in completion percentage, while Brady only achieved that feat on one occasion.

So far, the numbers we have looked at have been extremely close. The last thing to look at is awards and accolades. Both players were named league MVP twice, Brady in ’07 and ’10 and Montana in ’89 and ’90.

Montana was named an All Pro six times—three first teams and three second teams. Brady, on the other hand, has been an All Pro three times—two first teams and one second team. Also, if you throw in Super Bowl MVP awards, Montana has three compared to Brady’s two.

If you look at the total package in comparison to their contemporaries, Brady and Montana are almost dead even in terms of statistics, but Montana has a slight edge when it comes to awards and accolades. If Brady wants to surpass Montana’s legacy, he still has a little more work to do.

Due in large part to recent rule changes protecting quarterbacks and receivers, passing statistics have been greatly enhanced in the last few years. One can no longer compare quarterbacks from different eras just by looking at the numbers. Instead, one must evaluate how dominate a quarterback was in comparison to his contemporaries.