Aaron Rodgers Answers Whether He or Brady Is Better - 'He's Got 5 Championships'
There’s been a lot of mutual admiration expressed between Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady this week in the run-up to the Green Bay Packers-New England Patriots game this Sunday night.
Each of the star quarterbacks has talked in glowing terms about how great the other one is. And why not? Both are great, and why give the other team any reason to get extra fired up?
In advance of their matchup on Sunday, @Andy_Benoit looks at the Tom Brady—Aaron Rodgers debate, breaking down the styles of the greats.
Plus, the Colts’ O-line, Cincy’s pass rush, Demaryius in Houston and moving Halloween https://t.co/1sJpxdBS5y
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) October 31, 2018
Rodgers was asked at his weekly news conference Wednesday if he thinks about who’s the greatest of all time when he has a matchup against a player like Brady.
He described that as an “end of career” conversation. “You look at MJ and LeBron,” Rodgers said. “It’s tough to settle any of those debates because there’s the ‘what if’ game and the situation game and who you played for and what era you played in.”
But then Rodgers said of Brady, “He’s got five championships. That ends most discussions, I think.”
Thank you, Aaron Rodgers, for finally stating the obvious: Tom Brady is the GOAT.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) November 1, 2018
Brady was also effusive in his praise for Rodgers.
“What he’s done as a quarterback, it’s inspiring,” the Patriots quarterback said Tuesday during his weekly appearance on WEEI-FM in Boston. “Even for me, I watch his game and it makes me want to get out there and practice and improve, because I think he’s so phenomenal with how he manages himself in the pocket. His ability to throw the football is unlike anyone in probably the history of the league. It’s pretty awesome to watch.”
But Brady stopped short of calling Rodgers the GOAT.
“I think Aaron is one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game,” he said. But as far as calling him the greatest, Brady said, “it’s a hypothetical question that is truly impossible to answer.”
As both players indicated, there are several factors that make GOAT talk an academic exercise, and apples-to-apples comparisons are impossible.
Brady has been to the Super Bowl eight times and has five rings, while Rodgers has been to the Super Bowl once and won it.
Brady is among the all-time leaders in most passing categories, but he has played five more years than Rodgers. Certainly, barring a devastating injury, Rodgers will be right there with him when it’s all said and done.
But will the Packers star win more Super Bowl rings? That is the big divide right now between the two.
It’s reasonable to wonder how much rings should even matter in the most team-oriented of sports. Is it fair to ding Rodgers for the fact that Green Bay has struggled on defense for most of his career? The Packers haven’t had a top 10 unit since 2010, the season they won the Super Bowl.
In 2001, one was a 6th-round back up while the other was a high schooler with zero scholarship offers.
As they prepare for only their second head-to-head matchup, a look back at the incredible, parallel rises of Tom Brady & Aaron Rodgers https://t.co/zvQcV83y3W
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) October 30, 2018
It’s pretty unbelievable that this is only the second time in their careers that Brady and Rodgers will be going head-to-head as starters. The only other time they started against each other was in 2014, when the Packers won 26-21. In 2010, Rodgers missed the game against the Pats with a concussion. In 2006, he got into a game against New England when starter Brett Favre was struggling, but Rodgers left in the third quarter when he broke his foot and was out for the rest of the season.
So, savor this one on Sunday night. It might be the last time you see them do battle on the same field — unless, of course, they meet in the Super Bowl.
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