The Tom Brady vs. Aaron Rodgers debate isn’t anything new, though it has never made sense to me. Rodgers is a great quarterback but he’s far more aligned with someone like Ben Roethlisberger or Kurt Warner than he’s ever going to be with Brady. However, this isn’t a ranking of quarterbacks. I won’t talk about the nine fewer Super Bowl appearances, literal handful fewer Super Bowl rings, or the fact that Aaron Rodgers currently looks twice Tom’s age. Since Tom Brady left the Patriots, he’s become more likable, has taken more control of his team, his image, (won another Super Bowl), and just seems to be having fun. It feels like Aaron Rodgers is trying to do the same thing but he’s failing miserably at it.
It’s no secret that I love Tom Brady at a dangerous level, but this Buccaneer-version of Tom is just different. #AvacadoTequila.
There’s no way Aaron Rodgers hasn’t noticed. Since the Buccaneers knocked the Packers out of the playoffs, Rodgers has decided it’s time for him to rebrand himself as well. It feels like he’s also trying the approach of letting loose and being exactly who he’s wanted to be. The problem is, this version of Aaron Rodgers is even more unlikable than the regular version. Aaron Rodgers has turned into the squatted truck of NFL quarterbacks; begs for attention, annoying to everyone with a brain.
Tom Brady IS the Buccaneers …He also WAS the Patriots.
He joined a Tampa Bay team that had gone 7-9 the previous year and missed the playoffs the last 12 years in a row. Yet he immediately changed the culture. The Buccaneers franchise value went up 29% thanks to Thomas Edward Patrick Brady. I know the Bucs have a great defense and Brady is playing with some deep talent but none of it matters without TB12. Unless Mac Jones and Billy B make magic happen very quickly, the Brady vs. Bellicheck debate is also pretty dead.
Rodgers wants that type of power.
Obviously, Rodgers is the key to the Packers’ offense but he’s not the one making the calls, as witnessed in the NFC Championship game. Do you think Brady would have let Bruce Arians kick a field goal? No. Tom is taking the ball and getting a touchdown. Rodgers is instead handed a tablet and told to start watching SpongeBob. I get why he’s upset about that. Brady refused to roll with a play call he didn’t like already in week one, where Rodgers can’t even do it with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.
So as Brady was throwing the Lombardi trophy from boat to boat, Rodgers decided it was time to make everything even more about himself. He went and hosted Jeopardy!, ignored his team, ignored his fan base, ripped on his coaching staff, all signs pointed to Rodgers being done in Green Bay. It’s wild to me that Green Bay fans don’t give him a harder time for how shitty he treated them in the offseason but growing up a Vikings fan, I’m not sure how you’re supposed to treat a franchise QB—and you currently see how we all treat Kirk Cousins, and he’s the most stable QB this team has ever had in my life. Shoot, the Vikings can’t even get a reliable kicker.
Even when Rodgers did decide he was coming back to the Packers, in his opening press conference, he was more open than Scotty Miller going into halftime of the NFC championship game. Dude held nothing back and made it pretty clear that he wants a say in free agency, drafting, play calling, what color Gatorade is going to put in the cooler, and what TV channel is on in the locker room. He wants the type of power that Tom Brady likely has if he wants to use it.
And as a pure skillset, Rodgers is every bit as capable as Brady to do the things Brady is doing. But here’s what Rodgers is forgetting. Tom Brady isn’t nearly as selfish. Aaron Rodgers can try to grow out his hair and look like Brady circa 2009, he can demand that he’s more involved in the play calls, and player acquisition. (but wait, doesn’t he already have a top running back and arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL on his team?!?) He can demand all he wants. But he won’t have the same success because, well, he’s not Tom Brady.
Want to know the list of “demands” Brady had for Tampa Bay? Let me break it down for you quickly
- The phone numbers of everyone on the team
- The phone numbers of the rookies after the draft
- Center Ryan Jansen to make sure he used more baby powder
- Would you maybe be willing to sign Gronk?
- Also how about Antonio Brown?
He didn’t even ask for number 12. Godwin just gave it to him.
End of list. I’m willing to bet Aaron Rodgers doesn’t even have Jordan Love’s phone number.
Brady is a team player. He takes pay cuts, makes adjustments, is actively involved with every player on his team, and makes himself available to everyone on the team. He coaches his teammates and is careful with letting anything in his personal life impact the team. Hell, Brady won’t even consume eggplants, potatoes, peppers, and tomatoes because he’s afraid they aren’t healthy enough for him.
This leadership style doesn’t always work, I’m not saying Brady comes with no drama. Very few quarterbacks have as much spotlight and media as Brady. I’m not going to suggest otherwise. And Brady is no stranger to similar types of cryptic posts, as we saw from Rodgers this offseason.
But what do we see from Rodgers? He wants the biggest contracts but then doesn’t understand why he can’t have a better team around him. He throws his teammates under the bus when they don’t catch something he threw. He’s more willing to throw the ball out of bounds than risk throwing an interception. This entire offseason there was only one person that caused all the Aaron Rodgers speculation: Aaron Rodgers. Which is perfectly fine but he pretended like he didn’t want any of the drama while also causing it. C’mon, man.
Both Brady and Rodgers love being the center of attention but they each love it for very different reasons.
The easiest shot I can take is Rodgers wants to be the smartest guy in the room while Brady is the smartest guy in the room, but in truth, it’s deeper than that.
Brady is willing to be the punchline in a joke. He’s willing to be emotional. He hypes up his teammates in nearly all his Instagram posts—he seems to LIKE his teammates. He’s a savage on the internet. He can actually chug a beer, unlike casual sipper Aaron Rodgers.
On multiple occurrences, he was willing to be Bill Belichick’s scapegoat. His family actually likes him, too. He also sticks up for his teammates.
You don’t really see Rodgers sticking up for anyone else. All he does is complain all the time, about everything. I appreciate the hell out of Aaron Rodgers’ talent but for a Super Bowl-winning, 4-time MVP, who will be in the Hall of Fame, nobody should have to question his leadership. Yet, that topic isn’t new.
I don’t spend my time in NFL locker rooms anymore so I don’t know what is actually going on. I’m neither of their teammates so I don’t know the real truth. But from my perspective, when it comes down to it, I think it’s this simple. Tom Brady is all about winning. Aaron Rodgers is all about Aaron Rodgers.
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I was in at least 3 people’s Myspace Top 8. I have as many NBA Championships as Tom Brady. I’m probably too old to be here. @NickLewis37