Patriots quarterback Tom Brady won his fifth Super Bowl in February and it wasn’t hard to find people expressing their opinion that the victory elevated him to the top of the list of the best quarterbacks in NFL history.
One of Brady’s childhood heroes, Joe Montana, is among the other quarterbacks considered as choices for that spot and Ian O’Connor of ESPN asked Brady if he thought he’d moved past Montana during a wide-ranging interview published on Monday.
“I don’t agree with that and I’ll tell you why,” Brady said. “I know myself as a player. I’m really a product of what I’ve been around, who I was coached by, what I played against, in the era I played in. I really believe if a lot of people were in my shoes they could accomplish the same kinds of things. So I’ve been very fortunate.”
Brady has played his entire career with the Patriots while Montana moved on to the Chiefs when the 49ers opted to go with Steve Young as their starting quarterback. In the interview, Brady reiterated his plans to play for another five years or so and that might lead some to wonder if he’d play for a different team if the Patriots made a similar choice with Jimmy Garoppolo or someone else.
Brady said he doesn’t “ever want to be the weak link” and that he relishes competition with other players because “the best guy” should be the one in the lineup. Based on what we saw from Brady in 2016, it doesn’t seem like anyone else is going to be that guy in New England in the near future.