GREEN BAY, Wis. – Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are two of the NFL’s living-legend quarterbacks. With Brady announcing his retirement on Wednesday – “for good” this time – Rodgers stands alone.
Sure, Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes could unseat them both, and the Bengals’ Joe Burrow and the Bills’ Josh Allen seem destined for long-term greatness, as well, but, as of now, the longtime face of the Green Bay Packers is the NFL’s gold standard for career dominance.
Unless he retires, too. That internal debate, as he said on Tuesday’s edition of The Pat McAfee Show, is a “real thing.”
But will he?
The moment a player retires, the five-year clock starts ticking toward enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Brady will be the king of the Canton castle when the Hall of Fame honors the Class of 2028. As he should be. By Super Bowl rings and touchdown passes, he is the greatest player in NFL history.
“GOAT” has been so misused and overused that it’s now the “GOAT” of meaningless phrases. But Brady, indeed, is the greatest of all-time.
Will Rodgers want to play second fiddle during enshrinement weekend? Or would he rather be the focal point of, say, the Class of 2029 or 2030? Rodgers has an ego – which isn’t a criticism; it’s awfully hard to get to the NFL without having that self-belief. Would he rather bask in the Hall of Fame spotlight as the headliner? Or would he prefer to spend all week hearing about Brady’s seven Super Bowl rings?
Obviously, Rodgers wouldn’t come back for another season just to avoid sharing the Hall of Fame stage with Brady. But if Rodgers were to be working on one of those cliched pros and cons list of playing vs. retiring, you’d think it would deserve a mention on the bottom of the page, if nothing else.
In 23 seasons, Brady amassed NFL records of 7,753 completions, 89,214 passing yards, 649 passing touchdowns, 333 starts and 58 game-winning drives. With Brady’s retirement, here are the career leaderboards among active players.
Completions: Matt Ryan, 5,551; Aaron Rodgers, 5,001; Matthew Stafford, 4,508. (Nobody else with 4,000).
Passing yards: Matt Ryan, 62,792; Aaron Rodgers, 59,055; Matthew Stafford; 52,082. (Nobody else with 43,000).
Touchdown passes: Aaron Rodgers, 475; Matt Ryan, 381; Matthew Stafford, 333; Russell Wilson, 308. (Nobody else with 260).
Interceptions (Tom Brady led with 212): Matt Ryan, 183; Matthew Stafford, 169; Joe Flacco, 147; Andy Dalton, 144. (Nobody else with 110; Aaron Rodgers has 105).
Starts: Matt Ryan, 234; Aaron Rodgers, 223; Marcedes Lewis, 221; Jason Peters, 219; Duane Brown, 215.
Game-winning drives: Matt Ryan, 46; Matthew Stafford, 42; Russell Wilson, 35; Derek Carr, 33; Aaron Rodgers, 31.
Brady is coming off a dismal season by his career standard. So is Rodgers, which is why he might follow in Brady’s footsteps and finish his career with a different team than the one in which he grew into a star. In 2022, Brady’s Buccaneers and Rodgers’ Packers led their teams to 8-9 records. Incredibly, it took Brady until his 23rd and final season to not post a winning record.
“The consistency where you’re still playing at a high level and there’s not the drop-off” is what impressed Rodgers about Brady, Rodgers said before the teams met in Week 3. “Every great player fears turning into a real below-average player on the way out. I don’t think anybody wants to really hang on. Maybe some guys just want to get another year, or they’re maybe on a team where they can do a lot less. But when you’ve achieved at a high level for a long time, you try and stay there for as long as you can.”
Especially if it means not having to share the stage with Brady in Canton in five years.
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