I start with Otto Graham, who is, along with Brady, the best the position has seen (adjusting for era, of course.). As much as we think Brady’s resume as the GOAT is unassailable, here’s Graham.
Played first four seasons in AAFC and won four championships. That was comparable to NFL competition.
Moved to NFL in 1950 and played six seasons, reaching the championship in every one (so 10 championships in 10 years.)
He was 1-3 in NFL Championship games, and he went for it one last time and won. The next season, he came out of retirement at the urging of Paul Brown and finished with another one to go 3-3.
Statistically, looking at passer rating peak season, compared to contemporaries in the same era, Graham is the best. Winning percentage still the best at over .800.
Graham is the pre-expansion GOAT
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Brady’s challenges are different than Graham’s. He is playing in a 32 team league needing to win at least three postseason games. Free agency, turned over rosters, no roster full of Hall of Famers. And to top it off, it’s virtually impossible for a single player to dominate statistically like Graham. Too much competition with fitness and nutrition, film study, athleticism, etc. Brady, like Belichick, is a guy who seeks out and exploits small margins until they add up to be big margins.
I don’t believe anyone will ever equal Brady’s post-expansion era success, or come very close.
Brady is the post-expansion GOAT
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All other QBs have some (often nitpicky) flaws, but it’s a high bar. You can rank based on what they did comparatively to their peers and era.
My top 5 is
1t. Brady/Graham
3. Montana
4. Starr
5. Unitas