I don’t remember who wrote it but there was an article a few years back talking about how unfair it was to compare anyone to MJ because his path was so storybook to be almost mythical. Even if you won as much and scored as much, it was impossible to be as epic. Cut from HS team, game winner in NCAA title as freshman, flashy but took his lumps climbing to NBA title, literally globalized the NBA via marketing, 3-peat, retires, comes back like Jesus after trying baseball, fails briefly, 3-peat again while taking the entire league to the woodshed and setting team win record, retires (second time) after nailing (and POSING FOR!) title winning shot. You literally could not write his story, it would defy suspension of disbelief. And he talked **** the ENTIRE time, was the most celebrated athlete of his era, and yet the chip on his shoulder was intact even on the day of his HOF induction. He is INSANE. But goddamn if it wasn’t amazing to watch, and that 10-part 90’s Bulls documentary that was floated around New Years I cannot WAIT to watch, and I can only hope a similar project will someday reveal some of the inner workings of the BB/TB Patriots. It probably wouldn’t be as revealing because those Bulls were the last great sports circus to exist before the dawn of social media and 24/7 sports news.
I think there are comparable story elements for TB for sure...struggles in college to get and keep playing time, Brady 6, the way he got his NFL job and NEVER gave it back likely owes a lot to his college experience, the close games, the comebacks, the personal attacks on him and his franchise that have elevated them to the forefront of the NFL for almost 20 years, his defiance of the normal rules of the game as an aging QB, all of it. He’s also insane, but he has also come across as more of a company man (for Kraft instead of for Nike) and family man, and the ultimate teammate instead of a begrudging one who punches Steve Kerr in the face.
It’s a different thing, but they are undisputably singular as competitors, leaders, and winners in their sport. That’s the main line of similarity, and the main point. No need to compare, just be glad you got to enjoy each in their own right because there will never be another quite the same.
