Tim Hasselbeck still says Peyton Manning has had the better career..wait, what?
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| Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images |
“As somebody who played at the quarterback position in the NFL, at a time that both of those guys were playing, nobody’s changed the game more than Peyton Manning or changed the way that that position is played more than Peyton Manning,” Hasselbeck said. “And from my experience as a quarterback in the NFL, that’s a fact. “Also what I said was when you look at wins and losses, especially in the postseason, there are so many other factors that dictate who wins and loses the game. It’s such a team environment, so … I just don’t think it does the careers justice for any of these quarterbacks to try to narrow it down to just what happens in these postseason games.”
“Peyton Manning has won a Super Bowl, he’s achieved things that most quarterbacks aren’t able to ever achieve,” Hasselbeck said. “He’s going to own basically every passing record that exists. So you ask me whose career I would rather have, based on that and how I explained to you he changed the game of football from an offensive perspective, that was my answer.”
I've said it before, and I'll say here: They're both Hall of Famers, and more than likely first ballot. BUT, there are some major differences between Brady and Manning. First off, while I agree that you can't judge solely on postseason success (or lack thereof in Manning's case), it makes a difference. Brady has led 9 game winning drives in the 4th quarter in 12 tries. As opposed to 1 ring, 9 1-and-dones, and a blow out loss to the same Seahawks Tom Brady and the Pats just beat for Peyton Manning. Also, it is true that Manning has all the records, but a few things about those records: 1-Records are meant to be broken. Someone is going to come along and break all the records he sets in a few years. Maybe his replacement, Andrew Luck will do it? Who knows, but someone will eventually. 2 - he's had some great teams around him, while Brady has done more with less. 3 - He's played almost 3 seasons more than Brady has, which translates into more time to set these records. If Brady had those extra 3 seasons, who knows? I would say that Brady would be nipping at Peyton's heels stats-wise.
And Hasselbeck wants to bring up rings? Well, Brady just joined Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw as the only quarterbacks in history with 4. And Brady owns just about every playoff record there is. And yes, someone will break those records eventually, but in the end you can't take away his 4 to 1 ring advantage over Peyton in the ring category. Peyton may be the best regular season quarterback, but Tom Brady is the best all around quarterback of this generation, and one of the all time greats.
