Tony Romo’s assessment of Super Bowl LV isn’t sitting well with FOX Sports 1’s “Undisputed” crew.
Shannon Sharpe “strenuously” disagrees with Romo saying Thursday that Patrick Mahomes never can catch Tom Brady as the greatest quarterback in NFL history if the Kansas City Chiefs lose to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next Sunday.
Skip Bayless, meanwhile, hates Romo’s suggestion that a Chiefs win keeps the door open for Mahomes to someday surpass Brady.
As far as Bayless is concerned, Mahomes doesn’t yet belong in the GOAT conversation regardless of whether Kansas City wins Super Bowl LV.
“I am equally offended by this statement for an incredibly different reason than you just gave,” Bayless said Friday to Sharpe. ” … After Tom Brady won his first Super Bowl, in his first year of starting for the New England Patriots, did anybody, anywhere on planet Earth say, ‘Oh, he’s coming for Joe Montana.’ Did anybody think or say that?’ “
Of course, this is apples and oranges. Brady was seen as more of a game-manager during his early days with the Patriots, whereas Mahomes already has an NFL MVP Award and a record-setting contract on top of last season’s Super Bowl ring.
While it’s obviously bold to project someone will win at least six Super Bowl titles, as Brady has to this point, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that Mahomes someday will be one of the NFL’s most accomplished players ever.
Still, Bayless has his doubts.
“It’s about hype. It’s about the spectacular now, if I can use a recent movie title,” Bayless said. “It’s about Patrick Mahomes is overhyped because he throws left-handed passes. He throws them without looking. I don’t know. He throws them under-handed, behind his back. He is a highlight hype machine, a one-man hype machine. He did win an MVP and he played in one Super Bowl, in which by his standards, by his hype standards, he stunk in that Super Bowl. Let’s just call it what is was. … He was ordinary at best in that Super Bowl by anybody’s standards.”
Bayless’ evaluation of Mahomes is disingenuous, as the Chiefs star has been arguably the NFL’s most dynamic player from the second he took over as Kansas City’s starting quarterback. And he’s just 25, meaning there’s theoretically room for growth as Mahomes cements his legacy.
But Brady haters are gonna hate, while the supporters are gonna support. And Bayless no doubt falls under the latter category, to the point where he clearly has no time for anyone questioning TB12’s long-term place in history.
“It’s like Tony Romo is disqualifying, rendering irrelevant Tom Brady’s body of work,” Bayless said. “How can we even put Patrick in this conversation? I’m offended by that. It’s like we’re all gonna get struck by lightning. How can you say Patrick Mahomes projects into winning, I don’t know, six (or) seven Super Bowls? How can you say he’s going to get to 10?
“And by the way, can I also make this point: How are we presupposing this is Tom Brady’s last Super Bowl?”
Bayless actually might be onto something with that last point.
