NFL Network’s marathon counting down the league’s top 100 players finally came to an end on Sunday and, not surprisingly, the reigning unanimous MVP Tom Brady took home the top spot.
Brady was presented by a pair of the best defensive players in the game: Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis and Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis. Both had some glowing praise for one of their fiercest rivals.
“He’s not the biggest, he was never the strongest, he was never the fastest. He was overlooked; he went in the sixth round. So with that being said, all the intangibles a quarterback is supposed to have, they overlooked with him, because it was burning from the inside of him,” Lewis said.
“A play that always sticks out in my mind, they’re playing Carolina in the Super Bowl. Big third down. Of course, Carolina is playing that two-deep coverage. And you would think, OK, Tom Brady has to make this incredible throw, where is he going to go with the ball?
“But the weakness of cover-2, if you understand it, from Tom Brady’s perspective, is if a linebacker is 1 on 1 with a back, that’s your best bet. He drops back and he simply drops the ball off to Kevin Faulk. Could he have tried to force it into a cover-2? Could he have tried to go to his tight end down the middle of the seam in a cover-2? Yeah. But that’s what makes great players, great players. The unselfish players. When I saw that play, I said ‘Wow. That’s how simple he makes the game. The game ain’t hard to him.’ It’ like a matrix where it slows down.’It’s poetry when you see it from that angle.”
Revis was equally effusive in his praise.
“I think players voted him No. 1 because he’s a winner. He has a big heart. He doesn’t like to lose. I see it twice a year, I always see it in his eyes. He’s a warrior,” Revis began.
“The crazy thing about it is his accuracy. His accuracy of where he throws the ball, where as a defender you can’t get it sometimes. You’re here in position but then he’s throwing it right there and Wes [Welker] is catching it an inch from the ground.
“He’s pointing here, he’s pointing there. To me, I think it’s genius how he controls the offense.”
Brady joined the program via telephone after the network announced him as the winner and he predictably downplayed any talk of individual achievement.
It’s very flattering. I think I’ve been really fortunate over the years to play with an incredible organization and an incredible group of players,” Brady said. “This year was really a great year for our team in the regular season. We accomplished some great things. The things that I love about football, that I’ve always loved, that I think draws each player in the NFL to this game, is that it’s a team sport. The great teammates that I’ve ever had, the teammates I had this year, nobody would really accomplish anything without the help of every single guy on that team and every coach. It’s very flattering, like I said, but ultimately I give all the thanks to teammates past and present. They’re what really make this game special for me.”
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