Tom Bradys Arm Strength

[mosslost]

Kinda reminds me of a debate that seems almost completely unrelated until you think about it.

The debate is about the Sherman tank and the Panther tank in WWII. The Panther tank had a gun with an effective range several times that of the Sherman tank, its gun was far more powerful and far more accurate and armchair historians like to make a big issue of its "superiority." Lost in their parading of this superior attribute is the fact that the Sherman actually won far more battles against the Panther than it lost. Statistically, the superior tank was the Sherman.

Why?

Simply put? The Sherman was more reliable. The Sherman was built to be quickly and efficiently repaired. This meant that there would be more Shermans in a formation than its equivalent enemy would have. The Sherman was built for ergonomics, so its crew could operate at peak efficiency for longer. Most tank on tank battles were happening within the effective ranges of both vehicles when the tanks were shooting at each other.

Most of all the Sherman's gunner had his own periscope instead of just a telescopic sight, because the Americans were the first to figure out that who won a tank battle didn't come down to who had a better tank, it came down to who saw whom first and fired the first shot, something like 8 out of 9 times vision, rather than showy armor plates or gun size, decided victory. A tank with a second pair of eyes was a tank that won battles.

And that's where I think the comparison loops back to Brady. Brady is the Sherman in this analogy. He ticks all the boxes of attributes that actually lead to victory with his superior vision, reliability and dependability on the field. The showy over-scouted quarterbacks are like the Panther. They look good on paper and deceive the casuals. Like the Panther, these quarterbacks are built to show off and to impress the easily impressed. And why shouldn't they? Showing off is how they get their money. Brady is built to compete and win. He doesn't get his money until he can prove he can perform at the same level as these showpieces do. And so he does, by being smarter about the way he does things then the gunshows ever learn to be.

enjoyed reading that, thanks

 

[TB12TheGoat]

2007 Brady had one of the strongest arms I have ever seen. Ravens game, 2nd Dolphins game for example

 

[Simpelton]

I think it's important to separate strength and power. You can be a powerful thrower without the strongest arm depending on your mechanics.

Quite frankly the reason people think arm strength can't develop at the NFL level is because most athletes already have all their habits down and set in stone by the time they get there. Very few NFL athletes I've ever seen radically change their physical approach to the game after making it to the show and most of them are already assiduously coached to get the most out of their body that they can, if there's gaps in a guy's mechanics that he can fix and radically revolutionize his game it's probably because somebody missed something.

Enter Brady. A two sport athlete that started out focused on baseball and just plain didn't play much in college. I suspect he scouted so poorly in the combine because as a football player he was hideously underdeveloped and was nowhere near his peak potential as a football player when the combine came along. In a word, he was raw. Scouts passed on him because it was so rare to find a player committed to hard work who had that much hard work left to do. It was a rare combination of situations that led to Brady being that underdeveloped but still interested in really going pro as a football player but he still had an excellent football mind and the Patriots care about such things, so they took a flier on him.

At that point, being a pro football player. Brady developed his mechanics and body more than he had ever been able to before. He had to get ready to start for an NFL team and I'm sure they let him know they felt he was behind the curve, so he busted his butt. He went from being a smart player with underdeveloped body and mechanics to being a smart player with properly developed body and mechanics and the rest is history. That's why I feel his arm strength and deep ball ability wasn't there in 01, which is probably the time most ballplayers have peak arm strength, but developed later on.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Kinda reminds me of a debate that seems almost completely unrelated until you think about it.

The debate is about the Sherman tank and the Panther tank in WWII. The Panther tank had a gun with an effective range several times that of the Sherman tank, its gun was far more powerful and far more accurate and armchair historians like to make a big issue of its "superiority." Lost in their parading of this superior attribute is the fact that the Sherman actually won far more battles against the Panther than it lost. Statistically, the superior tank was the Sherman.

Why?

Simply put? The Sherman was more reliable. The Sherman was built to be quickly and efficiently repaired. This meant that there would be more Shermans in a formation than its equivalent enemy would have. The Sherman was built for ergonomics, so its crew could operate at peak efficiency for longer. Most tank on tank battles were happening within the effective ranges of both vehicles when the tanks were shooting at each other.

Most of all the Sherman's gunner had his own periscope instead of just a telescopic sight, because the Americans were the first to figure out that who won a tank battle didn't come down to who had a better tank, it came down to who saw whom first and fired the first shot, something like 8 out of 9 times vision, rather than showy armor plates or gun size, decided victory. A tank with a second pair of eyes was a tank that won battles.

And that's where I think the comparison loops back to Brady. Brady is the Sherman in this analogy. He ticks all the boxes of attributes that actually lead to victory with his superior vision, reliability and dependability on the field. The showy over-scouted quarterbacks are like the Panther. They look good on paper and deceive the casuals. Like the Panther, these quarterbacks are built to show off and to impress the easily impressed. And why shouldn't they? Showing off is how they get their money. Brady is built to compete and win. He doesn't get his money until he can prove he can perform at the same level as these showpieces do. And so he does, by being smarter about the way he does things then the gunshows ever learn to be.

"Stop pointing my tank at me!"

 

[PatriotsReign]

There are some fans out there who still claim the GOAT never had a "big arm". And while he is definitely not on Mount Rushmore for big armed QBs, I've always felt he had an underrated arm. Back in his physical peak in 07, he could comfortably throw it at least 70 yards downfield.

Checkout this 70 yard throw back in 2007 at 2:26 mark. He barely even stepped into that throw




Watch St. Louis Rams vs. New England Patriots [08/26/2010] - NFL.com

2:15 mark, completes a 62 yard throw on the dime to moss




This throw, depending on how you calculate the angle, went about 72-75 yards in the air.

No one can disagree with anything you posted unless they don't have a clue

 

[zydecochris]

I think it's important to separate strength and power. You can be a powerful thrower without the strongest arm depending on your mechanics.

Quite frankly the reason people think arm strength can't develop at the NFL level is because most athletes already have all their habits down and set in stone by the time they get there. Very few NFL athletes I've ever seen radically change their physical approach to the game after making it to the show and most of them are already assiduously coached to get the most out of their body that they can, if there's gaps in a guy's mechanics that he can fix and radically revolutionize his game it's probably because somebody missed something.

Enter Brady. A two sport athlete that started out focused on baseball and just plain didn't play much in college. I suspect he scouted so poorly in the combine because as a football player he was hideously underdeveloped and was nowhere near his peak potential as a football player when the combine came along. In a word, he was raw. Scouts passed on him because it was so rare to find a player committed to hard work who had that much hard work left to do. It was a rare combination of situations that led to Brady being that underdeveloped but still interested in really going pro as a football player but he still had an excellent football mind and the Patriots care about such things, so they took a flier on him.

At that point, being a pro football player. Brady developed his mechanics and body more than he had ever been able to before. He had to get ready to start for an NFL team and I'm sure they let him know they felt he was behind the curve, so he busted his butt. He went from being a smart player with underdeveloped body and mechanics to being a smart player with properly developed body and mechanics and the rest is history. That's why I feel his arm strength and deep ball ability wasn't there in 01, which is probably the time most ballplayers have peak arm strength, but developed later on.

Very interesting and thought provoking post, I had never considered Brady's college baseball/football career in that light. And this is after the wonderful Brady - Sherman tank analogy in the same thread.

For somebody who has been to this forum for such a short time, you certainly know how to write some interesting posts, thanks for your contributions.