Tom Brady silenced a lot of doubters last season. Even Chris Simms is starting to come around.
He’s just not there yet.
Simms, a former NFL quarterback now working as an analyst for Bleacher Report, turned heads last November when he said Brady no longer was one of the league’s top five QBs. Brady, of course, had a terrific season en route to winning his fourth Super Bowl. Not bad for a 38-year-old veteran.
Simms still isn’t ready for Brady to reenter his top five, even though the New England Patriots quarterback is right on the doorstep. Simms revealed Wednesday his current top five consists of Aaron Rodgers, Andrew Luck, Ben Roethlisberger, Russell Wilson and Tony Romo.
“Tom Brady’s right there,” Simms said on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Zolak & Bertrand” of Brady’s absence from his list. “My big issue with Tom Brady really is, ever since he hurt his knee to start the season in 2008 — of course he’s been awesome, I know that — but his mechanics changed, his ability to throw the ball down the field was not nearly as effective as he was before the knee (injury).”
Don’t rule out a comeback, though. Simms, who once served as a coaching assistant with the Patriots, explained Wednesday that Brady’s Week 1 performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers was vintage. A few more like it might force Simms to rethink his power rankings and include the future Hall of Famer.
“If he gets that back, the Patriots will be unstoppable,” Simms said of Brady’s season-opening masterpiece in which he carved up Pittsburgh’s defense. “At his age right now, it’s not always on him to carry the team week in and week out. Like I always told you, they have great game-planning, a really good football team, but I am not afraid to say when I’m wrong, I am not afraid to speak the truth and say what’s on my mind. If he continues to play like he did last week, I will reevaluate my top five.”
Of course, Simms’ updated top five isn’t even his hottest sports take of the week. He also said he thinks the Patriots’ desire to reinstate equipment assistant John Jastremski and officials locker room attendant Jim McNally shows Brady is guilty of wrongdoing in the Patriots’ Deflategate scandal — a stance he defended during Wednesday’s radio interview.
Thumbnail photo via Melina Vastola/USA TODAY Sports Images
