Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning

[Alben Barkley]

I'm confused because you answered the question about "who's better" yourself, and it's an objective fact that it's Brady. Yet you also ask us to vote on who's better? Poll doesn't make much sense unless it's ENTIRELY about who I like more personally, in which case probably Peyton. Though I don't hate Tom as much as I used to; I'm starting to appreciate just being around for the GOAT and getting to experience it all. I imagine I will even more when I'm older, telling my grandkids about how I saw Tom Brady's first Super Bowl.

[Alben Barkley]

Obvious Peyton Manning is obvious. He didn't need overturned fumbles, overturned interceptions, secretly filmed Eagles practices, deflated footballs, and rapist teammates to win his rings. Manning is the greatest quarterback I have seen in my lifetime watching football.

He was absolutely terrible in his second Super Bowl win and final game, bailed out only by his defense.

Come on, man. It's time to stop living in denial and admit the obvious. Literally none of those things, even if all true (and there is a lot of reason to believe many of these things are exaggerated at best), can explain how Tom Brady has won three Super Bowls (winning the MVP in two) just since Manning retired. His longevity is off the charts. It's no longer even a question who the better player is overall.

And speaking of "rapist," well, Peyton himself had an allegation of exposing himself to a female trainer when he was in college. Might not be "rape," but is sexual harassment at best. Brady honestly seems to be a pretty decent, nice guy personally and I can't see him doing something like that.

Oh, and the whole "refs rig everything for him because the league wants him to win" conspiracy theory doesn't quite fit with the fact he was suspended six games for Deflategate (which, if you look at all the evidence, is largely nonsense, and definitely would not have changed the outcome of the game for which it was alleged to have affected anyway) and still won the Super Bowl that year.

[Alben Barkley]

Obvious Peyton Manning is obvious. He didn't need overturned fumbles, overturned interceptions, secretly filmed Eagles practices, deflated footballs, and rapist teammates to win his rings. Manning is the greatest quarterback I have seen in my lifetime watching football.

He was absolutely terrible in his second Super Bowl win and final game, bailed out only by his defense.

Come on, man. It's time to stop living in denial and admit the obvious. Literally none of those things, even if all true (and there is a lot of reason to believe many of these things are exaggerated at best) can explain how Tom Brady has won three Super Bowls (winning the MVP in two) just since Manning retired. His longevity is off the charts. It's no longer even a question who the better player is overall.

And speaking of "rapist," well, Peyton himself had an allegation of exposing himself to a female trainer when he was in college. Might not be "rape," but is sexual harassment at best. Brady honestly seems to be a pretty decent, nice guy personally and I can't see him doing something like that.

Dude, he threw three picks in the NFC championship this year. He's over the hill and has been coasting for years.

...After he already threw the TDs which put his team in a position to win, which they did. Then he went on to be Super Bowl MVP. Anyone can have bad games or throws, but to say Brady is "over the hill" is nonsense that literally denies statistical reality. I believe only Mahomes, Allen, and Rodgers had substantially better Elo ratings this year.

No, Peyton was the one coasting in his final year and game, as noted.

No he's not a nice guy, if he was he wouldn't have gone over his coach and demanded his team sign demented rapist/domestic assaulter/stalker/defrauder Antonio Brown this year. Dude is a prick, only cares about the win, and will cheat and whine to do it. He's a disgrace to so many of the other quarterbacks in NFL history who led their teams with honor. He honestly isn't fit to wipe the sh**t off Johnny Unitas' shoes.

Nothing Manning did in college equates to the things Brown did in the past year alone, and Brady has to own that now.

Wanting a good player of questionable morality to be on your team so you can win is the same as actually doing morally dubious things directly yourself? Note that everything you said about Brown is merely alleged, as is Peyton's. But again, even if all true, this logic makes no sense to me.

[Alben Barkley]

Having more Super Bowl wins does not make one a better QB.  Terry Bradshaw was nowhere near as a good a QB as Dan Marino was, but Terry has four rings and Marino has zero.  The only big time team sport where one person can make a huge difference is basketball, and even there it's limited.  QBs play less than half the game for funks sake.

Peyton is the better QB and the better person.

Terry Bradshaw and Dan Marino played in a different time under different rules and different strategies. From both each other and from Brady and Manning, who started at roughly the same time as each other. Brady has now surpassed Manning in virtually every way at this point, not even just wins/rings. And the fact that he thrived even removed from Belichick proved it wasn't just him. The insane longevity over Manning alone makes the case. Brady also won more often when they played each other, which is why he ended up in the Super Bowl more often as AFC Champion.

Seriously, these arguments are climate change denial/creationist level nonsense. No one who seriously analyzes the game still unironically claims Brady is not the GOAT. Literally NO ONE.

[Alben Barkley]

Having more Super Bowl wins does not make one a better QB.  Terry Bradshaw was nowhere near as a good a QB as Dan Marino was, but Terry has four rings and Marino has zero.  The only big time team sport where one person can make a huge difference is basketball, and even there it's limited.  QBs play less than half the game for funks sake.

Peyton is the better QB and the better person.

Terry Bradshaw and Dan Marino played in a different time under different rules and different strategies. From both each other and from Brady and Manning, who started at roughly the same time as each other. Brady has now surpassed Manning in virtually every way at this point, not even just wins/rings. And the fact that he thrived even removed from Belichick proved it wasn't just him. The insane longevity over Manning alone makes the case.

Seriously, these arguments are climate change denial/creationist level nonsense. No one who seriously analyzes the game still unironically claims Brady is not the GOAT. Literally NO ONE.

Anyone using the phrase "GOAT" doesn't deserve to have their football opinions taken seriously. Brady would have lasted about three years under the systems Unitas, Bradshaw, and (to a lesser extent) Marino and Montana thrived with.

I deal with legends, not whiny brats who beg to have their fumbles overturned. There's only one athlete playing today in North America who legitimately has a claim to be called the greatest, and that's LeBron James. Maybe Mike Trout if he plays the same for another 15 years. But not Lady Deflady.

OK, well, IMO anyone who doesn't think Tom Brady is the GOAT doesn't deserve to have their football opinions taken seriously. Because they clearly ignore all the evidence in favor of their own personal biases and clearly deep-seated, irrational hatred. Which at least dead0man admitted might be affecting his judgment!

(This all makes much more sense if you're a Jets/Bills fan, by the way...)

And it's an entirely different story if you wanna talk about how different players would have held up in different eras. Things get MUCH more sticky and subjective then, but they're all hypotheticals which are impossible to prove. Maybe it's true Brady wouldn't have done as well back in the old days; but then maybe it's also true the other QBs you mentioned would suck today! Or maybe they all would have adapted! The original question of Brady vs. Manning, however, is much more direct and objective, with clear evidence and a clear victor. The question of stats and titles is also clear and objective.

And I say this all, by the way, as someone who basically idolized Peyton Manning as a kid. I had his jersey, I rooted for the Colts as the closest thing to a "home" team I had (it was either them or the Bengals, not a hard choice...), I rooted for him even when he was a Bronco, I rooted for him even though he used to play for Kentucky's nemesis Tennessee. I definitely sided with him over Brady in the rivalry. But I also see facts for what they are, even if I don't like them. And I have a feeling Manning himself would probably agree with me.

Oh and by the way, I still think Jordan is the basketball GOAT over LeBron. But that's a whole other discussion...

[Alben Barkley]

By the way, this is slightly off-topic but I always thought the Colts should have moved to Louisville and become the "Kentucky Colts" instead. Their uniforms are exactly the same colors as UK's (and just "blue" for the "bluegrass" state), and the name/logo is absolutely perfect for the state.