Patrick is on to something.
I always figured there was a lot of ignorance in the Brady/Manning debate....but it's a little surprising how much bias either against Brady or pro-Manning is out there in the media.
With all the praise being heaped toward Tom this year, an underlying bias is also being systematically exposed....
Mike Wilbon said tonight that EVEN IF TOM BREAKS ALL THE MAJOR SINGLE SEASON MARKS AND GETS A FOURTH RING (BY THE AGE OF 31), he'd still consider Elway a better QB.
I fell off my couch.
Wilbon thinks Brady needs "signature moments" or "drives."
Snow Bowl? SB 36? SB 38?....Among the greatest drives in history....not good enough for Wilbon (and the silent majority).
Too bad Kornheiser couldn't remind Wilbon that most of Elway's signature moments were memorably for all the wrong reasons. Sure he had that 5 minute drive against the Browns...anyone remember what happened after that? Don't give me the bad team argument either....he didn't give his team a chance in those games....he had good (not great) receivers and a good (not great) back....he had weapons contrary to popular belief.
Now nobody expected Elway to win those games, obviously, that would've been Herculean, but he could've done a better job of giving his team a fighting chance. What kind of team were the 01 Pats? Yeah, good (not great) defense, but HORRIBLE offense....sorry, it was horrible....they had no business beating the RAms. Credit Brady for playing an efficient, smart and clutch game....he was better than Elway early in their careers and he's going to stand taller when it's said and done.
I respect Elway so I'm not going to turn this into a #7 bash fest....but let's just say that Tom already has plenty of drives, signature moments, and credentials that John doesn't.....I don't think we need to rehash his resume here.
John had the best arm in history. And for half his career a lousy coach....I'll concede both of those.
But I'm sorry, to accept the hypothetical that TB could finish the year on the pace he's on, without acknowledging that he'd have to be considered by consensus as a better all-around QB than Elway, is about as biased as you can get.
........
The first reason for the bias is that most pundits have already gone on record long ago calling Manning the better QB. Even as they credited Brady over the years for being great, they rarely elevated him to the level of Manning. And hardly ever would a pundit clearly elevate Brady above and beyond Manning. Ironically, by defending their original premature and ignorant positions of long ago, in the face of so much contrary evidence, they are actually undermining the very credibility they covet.
Second is pure jealousy. Tom is justifiably living the good life and leveraging his god-given glossy image into a brand that is impossible for pundits to latch onto. Peyton's commercialism tends to win over dudes, while Tom's wins over chicks....they're both making good coin, but Tom has his priorities straight....unfortunately, he's also losing the hearts of the self-obsessed, bitter, and largely ugly, media fraternity to Peyton Manning in the process....they can better relate to a guy whose head is shaped like a ****....sorry, couldn't resist.
The biggest driver for the national consensus of these guys is that 99/100 pundits CAN NOT compare and contrast QB skill sets independent of stats (passer rating are not individual stats but partly the function of the personnel around a QB). Their perspective was largely formed by the respective draft stocks and pedigrees of each QB. Brady's college pedigree is almost universally misunderstood, even by his defenders. But we all know where they were drafted.
And there's no denying that many pundits have simply been spellbound by Manning's pre snap girations....they sometimes even admit this fact, but it's usually disguised by the old, "he calls his own plays" argument. Well sure, and they're called -- repeat after me -- "au-di-bles"....actually not rare in the NFL....NEVER HAVE BEEN.
I've always loved the things that others hate about Brady....that he was the REAL underdog. That he always did more with less. That he was underrated despite his unprecedented success. That he never looked for sympathy. That he never let his dad go out and campaign for him. That he neither apologized for his off-field exploits nor drew attention to them. That he didn't do a million commercials about stuff he didn't really care about. That he didn't act like a buffoon at the line of scrimmage. That he never called out his coach, O-line or receivers or teammates in a press conference, just to make himself look good.
And above all, because he was simply a more physically impressive QB from a pure skills perspective. Bigger arm than Manning, check. Tighter spiral, check. Threw into tighter windows, check. Moved better in the pocket, check. Got better the tougher the game got, check. Didn't play in a dome....etc.
It's been pretty fun to observe the Manning apologists this year....some are slowly seeing the light of truth....others are digging in deeper....and looking stupid in the process.
