This may be a little biased but I don't care. Smething that has always bothered me when I hear people discussing "The best QB of all-time" and Bradshaw's name is never mentioned. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "Brady is better than Manning. He's got 3 rings. If he wins one more, I think you can compare him to Joe Montana as the greatest QB of all time because Montana has 4." Well what about Bradshaw? He's got 4 too. And spare me the fact that Bradshaw had hall of fame players playing alongside of him on offense and defense. So did Montana. Why not Bradshaw? He's got 4 rings, he was a league MVP, he was a two time Superbowl MVP, he's a first ballot hall of famer. I think people ingest everything into statistical output. It's difficult to do that, especially with the different eras of which Bradshaw, Montana, and Brady played. Brady plays in an era where QBs and passing dominate the league. The stats prove that. Brady also won 3 superbowls during the early part of his career when his stats were not all that impressive. They were solid, but not mind-blowing (not that they need to be, but to some it's all about stats). He was more of a good game manager on a team with a great defense, clutch kicker, and great head coach. Then when Brady's stats started to become mind-blowing, the winning-when-it-matters-most stopped.
This, to me, is what separates Bradshaw and Montana from Brady, Manning, Unitas, Elway, Marino, and everybody else. They were winners and won when in it mattered the most throughout their entire careers. Say whatever you want, but they always got it done. Since Brady won his third Superbowl, he has not been there when the games matter the most. Since 2008, I've been watching Brady in the playoffs and continue to ask myself "This is the guy everybody is lobbying to declare to be the greatest ever?" You could tell the Ravens were going to win this year by halftime. People always say that every great player has a kryptonite like Brady has with the Ravens and Giants. Really? Who was Montana's kryptonite? Who was Bradshaw's?
I'm sorry, but as a Steeler fan sometimes it bothers me that Bradshaw doesn't get the credit he deserves. If we're talking about the best ever, give me Montana and Bradshaw.
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