Tom Brady Sick of Being Called the GOAT, Says He'd Rather Be Called 'Trash'
Is New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady the greatest of all time?
That’s certainly up for debate, and something sports historians will argue about for years and years.
Now that he’s won his sixth Super Bowl ring, however, Brady inevitably will be lumped in with NBA legend Michael Jordan, widely considered the GOAT of basketball.
GOAT Talk ? pic.twitter.com/4JlzyqGJIT
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 4, 2019
But aside from each of them having six rings, the two men are rather different.
Brady, by all accounts, is a family man who sometimes looks dorky on the football field. Jordan was notorious in his playing days for partying and gambling and exuded a natural swagger that Brady could never hope to replicate.
Brady’s championship wins span two decades, while Jordan’s dominance occurred within an eight-year span.
Jordan is still widely revered by NBA fans everywhere, not just in Chicago. You won’t find many Brady fans outside of New England.
But the two do share one other trait, and it might be the most important one when it comes to their respective mystiques. Both have enormous, almost comically large chips on their shoulders.
Both will try and find any perceived slight and turn it into the ultimate form of motivation.
Brady revealed as much when he was being interviewed this week by former NFL superstar Michael Strahan on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
When Strahan called Brady the GOAT, he responded, “I don’t even like that. I don’t even like it. It makes me cringe.”
This is hardly the first time Brady has attempted to embrace the underdog role, no matter how unfitting it is for a six-time Super Bowl champion and three-time NFL MVP.
“I wish you would say, ‘You’re trash, you’re too old, you’re too slow, you can’t get it done no more,'” Brady explained. “And I’ll say, ‘Thank you very much, I’m gonna go prove you wrong.'”
“You’re driven by criticism more than you’re driven by success,” Strahan said.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Brady responded.
When Strahan asked him how he stays grounded, Brady once again pushed the idea that his career was built around the idea that he didn’t get the respect he deserved.
“I was a late bloomer. I struggled in college. I struggled in the early part of my career. I was never the first guy chosen,” Brady said. “So I think that part is in me, it’s deep, it’s there and it’s not going anywhere. The foundation of where I was, who I am, where I started. Where I am now is a reflection of so many situations and occurrences that have to happen.”
So there you have it. All the Patriots haters and opponents should take note. Don’t do what Los Angeles Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman did and call Brady old. Don’t have more kids do school projects calling Brady a “cheater.”
If you truly want to end the Patriots’ Super Bowl run, start lauding Brady. Maybe make an exception to the rule and allow him to be inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as an active player. Maybe rename the AFC East the AFC Brady. Make Brady the assistant to the commissioner. Do something. Anything.
But if you love the Patriots, keep roasting them. Let Brady know he sucks, he’s old, he’s trash. You might just drive him to win another three or four championship rings.
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