ESPN The Magazine recently conducted an NFL players poll, asking 304 NFL players various Super Bowl-related questions. It should come as no surprise that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, a four-time Super Bowl champion, is held in very high regard by his peers.
One question asked which quarterback you’d want making the pass if you had one throw into the end zone to win the Super Bowl, and Brady took the majority of the votes in fairly convincing fashion. Forty-four percent of the players who responded picked Brady as the guy they’d want making the throw, followed by Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers (23 percent) and Carolina’s Cam Newton (8 percent).
Another, simpler question asked which current player would you most like to have on your team in a Super Bowl. Again, Brady took the top spot, earning 20 percent of the vote, followed by J.J. Watt (11 percent), Adrian Peterson (5 percent) and Calvin Johnson (5 percent).
Maybe somewhat surprisingly, the Patriots — with Brady and head coach Bill Belichick not getting any younger — were picked as the team to make the most Super Bowl appearances in the next 10 years, followed by the Packers, Panthers and Seahawks.
Rodgers was picked as the quarterback most likely to win the most Super Bowls in the next decade, though Brady — again, he’s 38 — finished third in the poll, receiving 16 percent of the vote (not far behind Rodgers at 20 percent and Newton at 18 percent).
Given what we’ve seen from Brady throughout his entire career, especially over the last two seasons, it’s certainly not unreasonable to expect even more success before he retires.
Click to see the entire ESPN.com players poll results >>
Thumbnail photo via Chris Humphreys/USA TODAY Sports Images
