Tom Brady Retires

With the Super Bowl over, I was thinking about Tom Brady’s second retirement announcement earlier this month. This one feels permanent and less unusual than when he retired for the first time a year ago only to return a month later.

Brady was a fascinating player. I watched him at play at Michigan, and I would have never expected him to have the NFL career that he did. Neither did football scouts or he wouldn’t have fallen to the 6th round of the draft. His success wasn’t based on physical skills like today’s stars, it was based on his intellect. He could dissect a defense pre snap and intuitively know where to go with the ball within seconds. As a fan, he was fun to watch. As an opponent, I’m sure he was maddening to play against.

With Brady’s retirement come GOAT (greatest of all time) conversations, and he will be worthy of that label. But what does it take to earn it? There’s no doubt that personal stats, victories, and championships all play a part, but every generation will see records broken. While Brady’s longevity may make his numbers harder to reach, offense friendly rules and longer seasons will propel someone there faster than before. There will always be another GOAT from that perspective. That’s the nature of sports¹. But I think there’s more to it.

To me, the GOAT is a player who has the ability to elevate others. Brady played with good but not great players for the majority of his career, and those players had their best years when they were teamed with him. Personnel would come and go, but the teams he led were always at the top of the mountain—the apex predator no one wanted to face. A GOAT has their own gravitational pull, too. His play affected the entire NFL for over a decade, and countless great players were pushed aside and out of our memories by the dominance of his teams. (Michael Jordan was like that that to the NBA, which is why he is a GOAT. LeBron James is not, which is why, even with his recent scoring title, he is only great.)

If there is a final piece to being a GOAT, it’s opportunity. Brady couldn’t get there alone, and wouldn’t have without Bill Belichick and the assistant coaches teaching, encouraging, and trusting him. Most of us will never have that, and our limits will be set by others (like our employers) instead of raised by them. Perhaps that’s why we celebrate the success of those that do have that opportunity.