Feb 11, 2017 5 min read

I told you so.

Here’s what I wrote in this space last week: “It’s something you might want to keep in mind after the Super Bowl if the New England Patriots do what most people expect them to do – beat the Atlanta Falcons. You’ll be hearing Belichick called the greatest coach in NFL history and you might not hear Spygate mentioned at all.”

I didn’t do a scientific study but I saw a lot of references to Bill Belichick as the greatest coach ever and very few of those statements were qualified with any mention of Spygate.

And the hysteria over Tom Brady reached new heights.

He is now the greatest quarterback of all time and it’s barely up for discussion. And I don’t recall hearing many Spygate references in those exaltations.

If you think the coach and/or quarterback who win the most Super Bowls should be acclaimed the greatest of all time, you can stop reading here. Five is more than four. End of discussion.

But, if you think that there are extenuating circumstances and historical facts – not to mention your own eye tests – that should be taken into account, it is very much up for discussion.

Let’s start with Spygate and allow for the possibility that at least two of New England’s Super Bowl wins were a direct result of a massive, well-planned, detailed, illegal system of recording opponent’s signals.

Five is still more than four, but five minus two is three.

If Brady’s not the best quarterback in history because of his team’s astronomical success, then he would have to be because of his spectacular arm, his scrambling ability that keeps plays alive or his uncanny ability to call the right play.

None of the above applies.

Mike Freeman of The Bleacher Report tweeted that Brady’s greatness has far surpassed that of Michael Jordan.

On one of the sports panel shows, the question was: “If you need one shot or one pass, Jordan or Brady?”

I’d have to ask how long the pass needed to be.

Another columnist suggested that Brady is the greatest player in NFL history.

Brady’s success – except for the part about Spygate – is undeniable.

His stats are a testament to his greatness but they are also a reflection of the era and the offense he has played in.

The dink-and-dunk attack does not require a quarterback to be great, much less the greatest of all time.

Matt Cassel, the only quarterback drafted by an NFL team without having started a game in college, completed 63 percent of his passes for 3,693 yards, 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions when he replaced Brady in the first game of the 2008 season. The Patriots went 11-5. He played last season with the Dallas Cowboys, his seventh team.

Here’s what Belichick said in 2011 when asked on ESPN Radio about Brady’s greatness, “He’s a hard worker… he’s very well prepared … I am glad he’s our quarterback. But I am also proud of the fact that without Tom Brady, we still won 11 games in 2008.”

A DVR is a wonderful thing. I went back and watched the second half of Super Bowl LI and looked for plays that required a great quarterback.

Here are the distances of the passes completed in the Patriots’ TD drive that cut the Falcons’ lead to 28-10: 2, 4, 8, 2 and 2. Those add up to 18 yards in the air.

On the field goal drive that made it 28-12, he completed passes that traveled 5, 6, 2, a great 19-yard pass to the tight end on the sideline and 2 yards. He also overthrew a 30-yard pass to a wide-open Julian Edelman.

After Brady sacked Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and recovered his fumble at the Atlanta 25 – oh wait that was the Patriots’ defense Brady completed passes that went 4, 11, 2 and 7 yards, the last of which was a touchdown. The two point conversion came on a direct snap to a running back.

Brady then used his greatness to convince the Falcons’ coaching staff to forget about running the ball three times and kicking a chip shot field goal after having first down at the Patriots’ 21.

They became the only team in the 2016 season to punt after having a first down at the 21-yard line.

On the game-tying drive Brady made a great throw to the sideline for a 16-yard completion and a nice pass on an 11-yard out. He also overthrew a 38-yard pass to a wide open receiver. A completion there is what I might use to make a case for someone being the Greatest of All Time (GOAT).

Julian Edelman made a good catch on a terrible throw for 13 yards.

Then Brady, who threw a pick-six on one of his rare downfield passes in the first half, decided to throw what, for him, is a bomb. The ball traveled 18 yards in the air before being deflected. Edelman made one of the greatest catches in NFL history for a 23-yard gain. Three routine passes and a 1-yard run tied it at 28.

Brady then willed the coin to flip to the side that the Patriots called and he put together a really nice drive with completions of 17 and 15 yards and a pass interference interference call at the 1.

The rest is history.

Five Super Bowl wins.

Did I mention nobody else has more than four?

John Steigerward writes a Sunday sports column for the Observer-Reporter.