At this point it’s pretty much impossible to argue that Tom Brady isn’t the greatest quarterback of all time, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still a few holdouts who will try.
Their arguments may not be convincing at all, but they can at least be entertaining and provide us all with a laugh, which is exactly what FS1’s Rob Parker did on Wednesday when he joined Ordway, Merloni and Fauria and tried to defend his take that Brady is still not the GOAT despite winning his seventh Super Bowl, which is now three more than any other quarterback and two more than any other player ever.
The most amusing part of Parker’s argument comes in his Deadspin column laying out his case, when he writes:
Some could argue Brady has turned into the NFL’s Robert Horry who won seven rings in his NBA career. And honestly, a case could be made that Horry was more clutch.
While Horry did hit some big shots in his career and was at least a starter on his first two championship teams with Hakeem Olajuwon in Houston in 1994 and 1995, he was never a star and was just a role player coming off the bench during his other title runs -- three with the Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O’Neal Lakers from 2000-02 and two with the Tim Duncan Spurs in 2005 and 2007.
The argument from Parker is that Brady has also just been a role player on some of his Super Bowl teams, with Bill Belichick and/or the defense being the real reason he won.
Here is part of the exchange with OMF, which ends with Parker trying to make his case for Joe Montana still being the GOAT… because somehow 4-0 in the Super Bowl is better than 7-3. Enjoy the laugh.
Ordway: “There’s one thing you wrote in this piece that is absolutely embarrassing. I think you yourself should be embarrassed at it. … Hall of Fame? Horry can’t even get in the building in Springfield. He was a single-digit scorer. He played for five different teams. What are you talking about?”
Parker: “Did you see his career and the clutch plays this guy made at the end of games to help teams win championships?”
Ordway: “Brady plays the whole game on offense.”
Parker: “I’ll give you Brady’s entire career, the numbers he’s amassed. But I’m talking about, if you go back and take an honest look at a lot of Brady’s championships, I can probably take five away and give the credit to Bill Belichick, give it to the defense, give it to Adam Vinatieri, one of the greatest kickers of all time.”
Ordway: “You could do that since it’s offense, defense and, by the way, special teams involved in winning these games, but you could do that about Joe Montana. You could do that about any quarterback that has ever played the game.”
Merloni: “Your precious boy, Aaron Rodgers.”
Parker: “Wait a minute. In the case of Joe Montana, I gave you the numbers: 4-0 in the Super Bowl, 11 touchdowns, no picks. He has the highest passer rating ever in four Super Bowls, the most passes without an interception. He won three MVPs. He won two with Jerry Rice, two without Jerry Rice.”
Ordway: “He only got to four Super Bowls, though.”
Parker: “Four? 4-0 is perfect for me.”
Ordway: “Well the rest of the time he didn’t get there. He wasn’t good enough.”
Fauria: “What happened when he went to Kansas City?”
Parker: “They went to the AFC championship game. They didn’t win it.”
Fauria: “They didn’t win it. They didn’t win it.”