The narrative was always the Patriot org/coaching that fueled the success.
That narrative was always nonsensically stupid.
Drew had to go. Many of us saw this but we were drowned out by the Kraftfans/Bledsoe worshippers. He was a big kid with a strong arm who was drafted #1, given the starting job with no competition, dropped back to pass fifty times a game and thus threw for a lot of yards. We were going nowhere with him. Someone, anyone had to replace him and it just so happened to be the GOAT.
Since his very first start I considered us to have the advantage at quarterback in every game Brady played. Not because he was the most talented or flashy. Because of his attitude. Would Tom have done as well with another team? I don't think so because he
never got the credit he deserved here because we're the Patriots, which of course made him bear down harder. And he would not have had the Parcells/Belichick team approach, or necessarily as good a defense somewhere else.
Brady was just looked at as a product of that.
Again nonsensically stupid, and ignorant.
Also Brady being a 6th round pick makes this different. There is no comparison of a guy selected that low becoming the GOAT in any sport.
Johnny Unitas was drafted by the Steelers in the ninth round.
Kurt Warner was undrafted.
Bart Starr was drafted by the Packers in the seventeenth round.
Roger Staubach was drafted by the Cowboys in the tenth round and the Chiefs in the sixteenth round as a 'future' selection (like Bird).
Doug Flutie was drafted by the Rams in the eleventh round.
Joe Kapp was drafted by the Redskins in the eighteenth round. He stunk in his last year here but he was great before that.
Kirk Gibson was drafted by the Cardinals in the seventh round. (He is in the College Football Hall of Fame).
Pete Rose was signed by the Reds only because his uncle was a scout for them and pleaded his case for him.
I suppose only Unitas is definitely in GOAT class, but there are lots of players who are hall of famers who came out of nowhere.
The issue with Brady is that
he played for the Patriots. The denigration of the Patriots spans generations since 1970, is legion among local and national media extending beyond sports, opponents and the NFL itself.
The issue with Bobby Orr is not the length of his career; he played almost as long as Jim Brown. It's the media explosion of sports coverage since 1980. Gretzky is obviously the most prolific scorer ever but he got hyped to the point where everybody everywhere knew about him. My aunt in Atlanta in 1980 never heard of Bobby.
Bill Russell has a similar deal in the comparison with Michael Jordan, but there are other nuances. Russell was a dorky, shy kid who spent his teen years reading books in the local library. He never was a great shooter or scorer. His self-deprecating personality is a bit similar to Tom's humility, but there's also Russ' uncompromising nonacceptance of conventional white supremacy that turns many off.
Ted Williams is the poster child for disproving the stupid notion that a player must win championship(s) to be the GOAT. If he or Ernie Banks played for the Yankees and won a million World Series there wouldn't be any wrong questions to their greatness.