Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh doesn’t mince words. He’s about as direct as it gets when talking to the media. Sometimes, it paints him in a bad light. But oftentimes, the quirky Harbaugh impresses with his ability to speak off the cuff.
This didn’t change on Wednesday when Harbaugh was asked whether New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was the best quarterback to ever suit up in the NFL.
“He’s already got it. That’s the point. Tom Brady is the greatest football player to ever play,” Harbaugh said Wednesday, via ESPN. “If you can play that good, that consistently great year-after-year-after-year-after-year, game-after-game-after-game-after-game, nobody’s ever done that.”
Harbaugh it taking this to an entirely new level. The debate surrounding Brady has recently been whether he was the best quarterback to ever play. Some argue that Joe Montana and his 4-0 Super Bowl record holds that title. Others point to Brady making his seventh Super Bowl appearance as the determining factor here.
But best player in the history of the NFL. That’s a first. It’s tremendously difficult to compare positions in the football world. How do we determine whether a specific quarterback was better than a player that suited up on the defensive side of the ball? Can Brady himself be compared to the likes of Lawrence Taylor and Deion Saneders? If so, how do you compare them?
For Harbaugh, this doesn’t seem to be a debate that’s somehow up there with how the universe itself was created.
“Nobody’s ever done it like Tom Brady has. He’s the best of all-time,” Harbaugh continued.
Well then.
Brady is set to make his seventh appearance in the Super Bowl when his Patriots take on the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. He’s coming off a 2016 regular season that saw him throw 28 touchdowns compared to just two interceptions. Needless to say, Brady is playing at the top of his game.
Whether that means he’s the greatest of all-time is surely left up for debate.