Tom Brady has been showered with praise after winning his seventh Super Bowl championship.
One of the greatest players in NFL history earlier this week joined the party, but not without minimizing the star quarterback's remarkable achievements, to an extent.
Jerry Rice on Monday acknowledged Brady as the greatest football player of all time. But while doing so, the Hall of Fame wide receiver suggested he played in a much more challenging era.
"I don’t have seven Super Bowl rings, but I think I played in an era when football was more of a contact sport," Rice told 95.7 The Game, as transcribed by ProFootballTalk. "You’re seeing a lot of that now -- players are protected. When you have seven rings, you're doing something right. I think with Brady, he still wants to play. He said something about playing until he's 45. I think he can do it now in this league because players are so much more protected. So, yeah, he can have that GOAT status. I never wanted that status anyhow."
Yes, quarterbacks undoubtedly are protected much more in today's game than they were in any era of football prior. Still, Brady has nearly doubled the number of Super Bowls won by Rice and Joe Montana. That's incredible any way you slice it, no matter how much the game has changed.
As such, Rice should be able to properly appreciate Brady's greatness without any asides.
