Tom Brady solidifies place as greatest NFL player of all time, joins Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan in conversation as best sportsperson ever

Opinion

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Dennis Sylvester Hurd (Flickr)

Babe Ruth, baseball G.O.A.T and strong candidate for greatest sportsman

Michael Russell, Reporter

Since Tom Brady won his seventh Super Bowl title last Sunday, leading the unlikely Tampa Bay Buccaneers to only their second championship, there has been quite a bit of talk about the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) in all of sports.

Some are contending that Brady has now perhaps proven himself the greatest sportsman of all time. That probably goes too far and would be nearly impossible to quantify. But what Brady has accomplished certainly cements him as the G.O.A.T in football.

Until Brady got clear of the rest of the field of multiple-title winners by two last week, football was one of the major sport that lacked a clear-cut G.O.A.T candidate.

In addition to his pile of Super Bowl trophies, Brady is also the all-time leader in touchdowns with 581and has been named NFL MVP three times.  His football resume is easily the best and  should certainly make him the greatest football player of all time.

But here is a look at some of the other sportsmen who might make it difficult to crown Brady the king of all sports.

Babe Ruth has long been considered baseball’s G.O.A.T. His 182.5 W.A.R.  far exceeds the second-place player. He led his teams to seven World Series Championships and was not only one of the greatest hitters of all time (714 Home Runs, .342 Batting Average) but also one of the greatest pitchers of all time (94-46).

Michael Jordan is definitely the G.O.A.T in basketball and a prime candidate for the greatest sportsperson too.

He prefaced his dominant NBA career by winning an NCAA title in 1982 with North Carolina.  He followed that up with six NBA titles in six finals appearances. Jordan won MVP in all six finals as well as five regular season MVPs. He is the all-time NBA leader in scoring average with 30.1 points per game.

Wayne Gretzky is universally considered the G.O.A.T in hockey.  No intelligent life forms would argue that.

Gretzky is the all-time leader in points, goals and assists, far surpassing all other players. He led the Edmonton Oilers to four Stanley Cup championships and won a staggering nine MVP awards.

Jack Nicklaus is still the GOAT in golf. Nicklaus earned 18 Major championships, easily ahead of second place Tiger Woods (15) and Walter Hagan in third with 11. His 19 runner-up finishes in Majors also blows out the rest of the field.

It’s safe to say there remains room for speculation as to the greatest of all sports, but Brady will continue to fan the flames of that argument around this time next year when he attempts to become the only player in NFL history to win consecutive Super Bowls with two different teams.