pherein
In the Starting Line-Up
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Football is the ultimate team sport, IMO. So, rings do matter.
But, clearly common sense has to enter into the evaluation at some point; Marino's "body of work" puts him well ahead of Trent Dilfer.
17 QB's, including Peyton and Eli Manning, have won one ring. When the history of the first 50 years of the SB era is written by someone objective (i.e., many years from now), some will be considered "very good" or "great" and some will be considered "good enough" and some will be considered "lucky to have been in the right place at the right time."
Six have won two rings: Elway, Griese, Roethlisberger, Starr, Staubach and Theismann. They are all considered at least "very good," with Elway, Starr and Staubach among the "greats," and the jury still out on Roethlisberger.
In the 44 years of the SB era, only four QB's have won more than two rings: Aikman and Brady with three; Bradshaw and Montana with four. I just don't see how these four don't belong in a category by themselves.
That's rarefied company and Tom Brady belongs in it.
Years from now, when personalities and present-day biases and media favoritism are put aside, I don't think that Peyton will be put on the same level as Aikman, Bradshaw, Brady, Elway, Montana and Staubach. Some other hotshot will have broken all or most of his records.
What people will remember from this era are those Conference and League Championship games from years ago that they watch over and over.
It is the great games that have been played by champions, whether they won or lost those games, that is what defines the collective memory of the NFL: Giants/Colts 1958 ushering in the modern era of the NFL, Jets/Colts 1968 changing the AFL/NFL landscape forever, Montana to Clark and "The Catch" in 1982, Patriots/Rams 2002 the upset that began a dynasty, Giants/Patriots 2008 the "magic helmet catch" that tore immortality from the grasp of a great team.
For Brady, that will always be bittersweet with XXXVI and XLII played over and over again by our grandkids. But, they'll be watching him and talking about him.
No one worries about who won the '58 Colts/Giants game; what they care about is that the game was played and it was great and that it changed the course of the NFL. 50 years from now, people will watch SB XLII and see not the depressing moment that we now see but the play of a great team and a legendary QB and Coach, who came up short on that one day in a great battle.
Peyton Manning has yet to play a game that people will watch 50 years from now and, feel, as John Madden put it during that memorable drive in 2002, that "What Tom Brady just did gives me chills all over my body."
great read, I think you capped my thoughts exactly. The the NFL needs to remember Bart Starr tho, he won the 1st and 2nd SB's, plus 5 NFL championships (1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967) before there was a SB. I think he's very underrated.
