During the "True Grit" panel at Fanaticsfest hosted by Stephen A. Smith, Tom Brady sparked curiosity when he skipped over Aaron Rodgers during discussions about the great NFL quarterbacks of his day and now. The omission occurred not once but twice, leading to some speculation among fans and media alike.
As the discussion unfolded, Smith asked Brady to name some of the quarterbacks he considered to be great, both historically and in today's game. Brady, who has often been vocal about the evolution of the quarterback position and the changing landscape of the NFL , highlighted several QBs, including Peyton Manning , Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees, Phillip Rivers, Joe Montana, and Steve Young.
However, Rodgers' name was absent from his list. During another segment, the seven-time Super Bowl winner was asked about his top 5 QBs in the NFL today, where he listed Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson , and Joe Burrow , skipping a fifth name from the list.
Smith quickly noticed the non-inclusion of Rodgers and took it upon himself to bring the Jets QB into the conversation. "Imma throw Aaron Rodgers in there," Smith said, responding to the crowd's calls for the Jets' new quarterback to be acknowledged.
Brady realized the unintentional slight and responded by saying that he was interested in how Rodgers would perform in the upcoming season with the New York Jets. "I'm very interested to see how Aaron comes back and performs this year," Brady said.
"You know, how dedicated and committed he is to being a great quarterback. A year off, I believe that it would be very motivating for him to do that," he continued. Brady went on to emphasize that it's ultimately up to the players themselves to prove their greatness on the field.
"But, again, that's why they go play," he continued. "At the end of the day, it's going to be up to them to go out there and prove to us, right or wrong, whether our decisions or judgments or hypotheses about them are right."
Despite not playing against each other much throughout their careers, Brady holds a 3-2 advantage over Rodgers in the regular season and a 1-0 record over him in the NFL Playoffs. Brady has a 10-touchdown to zero interception ratio over Rodgers-led teams games played against each other. Rodgers, on the other hand, has six touchdowns and three interceptions, equalling an 82.7 QB rating to Brady's rating of 106.5.
While Brady may have initially overlooked Rodgers in his list of greats, he previously voiced high remarks for Rodgers' career. He praised the Jets QB for his efforts to return to the field last season after his season-ending injury in Week 1 last year.
"He's pretty determined to get back, and I really appreciate that about Aaron," said Brady last year. Some guys I think use injuries as an excuse not to play. The inspiring part for me when I see a guy like that is it shows you the love of the game that he has."
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