Who am I to argue with 902 NFL players?
It depends. Did they vote that water is wet as well?
Not to discredit this poll, but just 12 months ago Cam Newton was #1. So the players don't totally know.
Tom Terrific set them straight.
To be voted #1 is the ultimate measure of respect. Especially taking into account his senior citizen status.
QBs get too much attention. I thought the 2nd string safety was the difference in the Superbowl last year.
The NFL is a QB league.
Since the 2001 season only 9 QBs have won a super bowl.
Tom Brady - 5
Payton Manning - 2
Big Ben - 2
Eli Manning - 2
Drew Brees - 1
Aaron Rodgers - 1
Flacco - 1
Brad Johnson - 1
Russell Wilson - 1
That list reads like the upper echelon of QBs for the past two decades. Except for Flacco, Johnson, and Wilson who won the super bowl on the back of the NFL's best defenses in those years. So elite QB play wins the super bowl 13/16 seasons while elite defenses only win 3/16. To win in the NFL you need elite QB play.
I would argue that Payton's 2nd Super Bowl win was also on the back of the NFL's best defense...
Fair point but, he is still a top tier QB even after his neck injury.
But I'll give credit. 4/16 top defenses then. Fact still remains you need elite qb play. And to be fair even the top defenses had above average QBs in Johnson, Flacco, and Wilson. You gotta have a QB to be successful in the NFL.
That was his worst season statistically, and he was nowhere near the top half of the league. You have to give him credit for gutting it out but he did not look like the same QB he'd been even the year before. He threw more interceptions (17) than touchdowns (9) for only the second time in his career.
Look at that Super Bowl game--Denver managed one offensive touchdown, and that was on a drive that started at the 4 after Newton's second fumble. Their other touchdown came on Newton's first fumble.
Ok. So 13/16 for QBs and 3/16 for defense goes to 12/16 for QBs and 4/16 for defenses. I think the point is still pretty obvious.
I'm not sure you can break it down so succinctly into elite QBs and non-elite qbs. The difference between Eli Manning and Flacco is minimal at best and his two super bowls were won on the backs of outstanding defense in the playoffs. Similarly, Roethlisberger was hardly an elite QB when he won his first super bowl, they had a great defense, strong running game, and middling passing game. Hell, even Brady's first super bowl most would say was won by the defense.
If you discount Peyton Manning's second super bowl, Brady's and Roethlisberger's first, and Eli Manning's two, you are looking at an 8/8 split in super bowls being mainly won by elite qb play vs. elite defensive play.
Obviously the real answer is that it's best to have both strong defensive play and strong qb play, and it is possible to win if you have an elite level at one of those two traits, with just good to ok on the other. We just say things like "it's a QB league" or "you can't win without a QB" because it is much easier to quantify one player than an entire side of the ball.
Regardless of how you feel about his persona, he deserved to be the #1 player in 2015 and earned his regular season MVP award.
I've got no issue with his persona, but to be voted as the best player in the league after one big year over players with a far larger body of work calls into question the credibility is all.
It's a YEARLY poll, not a lifetime achievement poll.. so for the 2015 season players felt Cam was the #1 guy. For the 2016 season, it was Brady... doesn't discredit the poll at all. Every year is different and the top 100 poll reflects that, every year.
You do know that this is a yearly poll, right? This time last year Cam Newton was coming off a historic season where, prior to the Super Bowl, he was completely unstoppable. So it was not beyond reason to believe that he was the #1 player going into the 2016 season.
House Mother also ranks Tom Brady as #1 so there's that.
I am shocked.
No matter the inflation level of his balls
5 Super Bowl wins in the modern ear AND including the greatest comeback of all time, yup, sounds correct!
Even if he was a buckeye or sparty, not sure how anyone can knock the GOAT label for Tom.
Oh trust me, if he were a Buckeye I'm sure we'd try to deny it.
If ifs and butts were candy and nuts we'd all be knee deep in shit
moot point.
is "Bitches, i've got 5 BARE fingers here, time to get to work!"
7-9, tbh
And he has not showed any signs of slowing down
Duh.
too low
SInce they've started putting together the top 100 in the past 10 years, Brady has never finished lower than 4th. Put together the all-time top 100 and you'll have the same result, definitely will be in top 3 with Jim Brown and Jerry Rice.
Water is wet. Sky is blue. In other words, no kidding that he's the best in the game, and the man shows no signs of slowing down.
Greatest QB of all time, bar none, and possibly the greatest who ever will be.
Marrying a super model will do that for you.
carrying yourself with class, being a great teammate, and having competitive fire and icy nerves will do that for you.