Tom Brady’s latest Aaron Rodgers admission confirms what many Packers fans long believed about the quarterback pecking order
The former Patriots and Buccaneers quarterbacks respects what Rodgers could do, naming him the best thrower of the football in NFL history.
Tom Brady won the rings and led the New England Patriots to an incredible run. Then, he did it once again for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So, it’s easy to point to him and say for sure he’s the greatest quarterback of all time. But quarterback wins aside, Brady himself knows how to identify talent.
In an interview with former soccer players Gary Neville, Roy Keane, and Ian Wright on the “Stick to Football” podcast, Brady mentioned former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers as the greatest thrower of the football in NFL history.
“I think there’s no greater passer of the football than Aaron Rodgers,” Brady admitted. “It would be like someone kicking the ball. I mean, there’s certain people. You know, Roberto Carlos, the Brazilian, the way he kicked that ball. You see everyone do it, and then you see one person throw the ball that much better.”
Undeniable talent
Brady doesn’t necessarily admit that Rodgers was better than him in general, because quarterbacking goes much beyond throwing the football. But you can see the respect in the way Rodgers played.
“Aaron Rogers was incredible,” Brady added. “It’s hard to put into words how incredible he passes the ball. The ball, the way it comes out his hand, the way that it spins and delivers with the pace and with the accuracy. There’s only probably three people in the history of the NFL that could do it like him.”
Brady and Rodgers didn’t face off many times in their careers playing in different conferences most of the time. Still, they played five regular season games (3-2 to Brady) and the NFC Championship Game in 2020, when Brady led the Bucs to a win over Rodgers’ Packers at Lambeau Field en route to a Super Bowl win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Both quarterbacks tried to maximize their careers. Tom Brady, who’s now 48, played through his 45-year-old season, extending his NFL career from 2000 to 2022. Aaron Rodgers is 42 and will be 43 in December, and he decided to come back for a final season for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Curiously enough, Rodgers left the Green Bay Packers after the 2022 season, but played two more seasons for the New York Jets (he missed basically the entire first one due to an Achilles injury) and two for the Steelers.
Together, Brady and Rodgers combine for seven NFL MVP awards, 11 All-Pro selections, and three All-Decade Team selections.