Tom Brady is able to recognize one of the best defenders in the history of the sport as well as anyone.
When you think of the greatest of all time, you don’t tend to think of one player in the same position as their main rival or adversary. A rival indicates a level of closeness that doesn’t exist if you’re actually the greatest of all time. Guys like Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, and Lebron James don’t really have equals at their positions during their eras that challenge year-in and year-out for the title of greatest ever..
Giants fans would joke that Eli Manning was Brady’s rival, although no one on the planet would actually take Manning over Brady at any point in their careers, especially not when seeing what Brady is doing with the Buccaneers at this stage of his career.
However, football is unique in that different positions means you have gave different “GOATs” on the field at the same time, and Brady is showing that he recognizes this with a recent comment on his least-favorite defensive back to face during his career.
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1532723148898152449?s=20&t=z8Std4PUNGqcgMFR32bQlw
Was there any choice other than Ed Reed?
(Hint: the answer to that is no).
Reed came into the NFL around the same time as Brady, and while his team achievements were not the same as Brady’s, he was arguably more successful in the realm of individual accolades.
Brady had three first-team All-Pro selections, Reed had five. Brady and Reed both had three second-team selections.
Tom Brady is the greatest player in the history of the sport due to the importance of his position, especially on the offensive side of things, but Reed makes a great case as one of the best defenders of all time.
Reed was a leader on the field, cerebral to the point of trick opposing quarterbacks, and his ability to come down with interceptions makes him one of the best players in the history of the sport against the pass.
There is no comparison to Reed or what he was able to accomplish during his Hall of Fame career, and Tom Brady was absolutely right in disliking having to play against him.
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