(Picture from http://www.gambling911.com/)
I’m not a columnist (yet), but sometimes I feel as though the ones in my life push and press a topic so much that they lose their sensibility as a writer and transcend into a moronic fan with a keyboard. It is their job, and they get paid to do it, but does that mean they have the responsibility to suck a topic dry, or turn on a guy quicker than Tracy Porter ran Peyton Manning’s interception back for a touchdown? I don’t think so.
I think everyone knows now how I feel about the “Peyton Manning: Greatest EVER” tag that was tattooed on his forehead the week before the Super Bowl. As a fan I’ll admit, I fell for it, I was drawn into it, I got sucked in by the giant Oreck vacuum and Peyton Manning was holding was holding it. As the glitter fell down on Drew Brees(us) and his son, I couldn’t even enjoy the breath taking moment. I was to busy sorting my thoughts, and angrily wishing I didn’t follow so many nationally recognized columnists that made a mythical creature out of Manning. One in particular that made me mad was Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe. He wrote last week, “Peyton Manning is better than Tom Brady…For those of us living in the present, it’s time to give up the Ghost of Tom and face the truth.” The Ghost of Tom? He was injured one season, and came back still tender, stuck with having to get used to the speed of the game all over again. How can we judge, what has been a beautiful career, on the past two seasons and a failed fourth down attempt (that wasn’t even his fault).
I read this, and at the time thought it was a little too drastic, but I went along. He goes on to say, “The New England company line clings to the fact that Brady has three rings and Manning one. Brady is 14-4 in playoff games, Manning only 9-8. It’s all about championships and therefore, Tom is better. No. By that yardstick, Sam Jones (10 championship rings) was a better NBA guard then Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan. Yogi Berra was a better catcher than Johnny Bench. Trent Dilfer was a better quarterback than Dan Marino. Championships mean a ton. Clutch is crucial. We want guys who want the ball at the end of the game.” Why is this man so quick to pull the trigger to put Tom Brady out of his misery? Sure this season wasn’t a perfect remake of 2007, but as a Patriots fan, you knew it wasn’t going to be coming into this season. Brady was back, but the defense wasn’t up to par, Randy Moss suffered Alligator arms, and there was no run game.
My problem with Shaughnessy is that he seems to take away how great Brady has been because of the injury and the failed fourth down play against the Colts. How can you measure a guy on one coaching decision, but not on championships and playoff wins? How can Brady be blamed for that play? How does that diminish the great career he’s put together (a career that nobody expected when he was selected as the 199th pick in the 2000 draft)?
In the beginning part of this decade, you know when the Pats stunned the Rams for a Super Bowl win and then won back to back titles a few years after; Brady was the best quarterback in the league. 2007 rolled around, and he was near perfection. He gets injured, and comes back rusty and he’s automatically done? This is a classic case of the “what have you done for me lately” syndrome, and Shaughnessy should be diagnosed with the severest of cases. Yes Brady got hurt in 2008, and looked awful this year in the playoffs, but can you tell me with a straight face that with a healthy Wes Welker in the lineup against the Ravens, that playoff game isn’t closer? I think didn’t so.
I don’t mind Peyton Manning, but I don’t have as big of a man crush as my co-mancheeser, but I feel as though the media owes the people an apology. Especially you Mr. Shaughnessy.
But what about Brees now? You know the guy that threw eight touchdowns in the playoffs and Super Bowl without an interception. You know the most accurate passer in the league? He has just as many rings as Peyton Manning, and was “CLUTCH” the entire second half in the Super Bowl, so should we say that he is “the best”? By Shaughnessy’s standards, yes. So look out America, it seems as though Drew Brees is next in line to be the next “Best Quarterback Ever”.
At least I got this out of good ol’ Dan, “OK, maybe I jumped the gun a little. I got caught up in the moment. On the eve of the Super Bowl, I wrote that Peyton Manning was better than Tom Brady. I was positively Peytonized.” Me too Dan, me too.
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