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Tom Brady is the GOAT of the NFL, and the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers legend has been known by that for almost a decade now. The recently retired Brady is easily one of the greatest sportsmen ever, and his records speak for themselves.
Brady owns almost every quarterback record in the NFL and has by far the most rings in NFL history. A ring is given to a player who wins the Super Bowl, and Brady has seven of them.
Moreover, he has earned five Super Bowl game MVPs and four regular season MVPs, and he has well over 80,000 passing yards (no other player comes close). Some arguments have been made by OG NFL fans, who believe that the likes of Joe Montana and Lawrence Taylor deserve the GOAT title more than Brady.
However, those arguments have largely been silenced following Brady's stellar three-year spell in Tampa Bay.
Some notable GOATs in Other Sports
The NFL is one of the best-marketed leagues in the world, but that doesn't mean it's the only popular sport on the planet. Here are five other GOATs of their respective sport. The list is in no particular order:
#1 Tiger Woods, Golf
His five Masters, four PGA Championships, three U.S. Open Championships, and three British Open Championships make him the most dominant golfer of his era.
Prime Tiger Woods played true to his name and ruthlessly devoured the weekly competition. Woods first broke onto the scene as a precocious youngster in the late 90s, and he quickly became the hottest commodity in golf.
Woods brought increased visibility to the game of golf, thanks to his dominance, swagger, and devotion to fitness. His fall from grace might have been as spectacular as his rise, but no other golfer in history merits the GOAT tag like Woods.
#2 Muhammad Ali, Boxing
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, we hardly get athletes as poetic with their words as their performances.
However, Muhammad Ali was much more than an athlete in the 21st century; he was a cultural figure and an awesome boxer. Boxing has had its fair share of legends, such as Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Sugar Ray Leonard, the Klitschko Brothers, etc. However, none of them impacted the sport like the late great Ali.
As a boxer, he had incredible hand speed, dazzling reflexes, and constant movement, which was typical of Ali, and he always made his opponents look silly in the process. Ali retired with a record of 56 wins, five losses, and more respect than any other boxers ever garnered. He is, put, the greatest of all time in his sport.
#3 Michael Jordan, Basketball
Like boxing, numerous players can claim to be basketball's greatest of all time. Players like LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain deserve honorary mentions, but none of them was Michael Jordan.
Just like Muhammad Ali and Tiger Woods, Jordan transcended the game of basketball and remained dominant in his sport for over a decade. He won ten scoring titles and six NBA finals and was part of the legendary 1992 Olympics Dream Team.
When you think of No. 23, you think of one man, and that's what GOATs are made of.
#4 Jon "Bones" Jones, MMA
Jon Jones could have a nasty streak. Jones cannot be described as the best of influences outside the ring, and Jones is not everyone's cup of tea, but my gosh, can Jones fight!
Jones is the MMA GOAT due to the pure dominance he has displayed in the octagon for well over a decade of competition. He has beaten up some of the fiercest fighters globally, and he remains unbeaten at the time of writing.
The UFC and combat sports, in general, won't be the same without "Bones", and the combat world will be watching eagerly as he returns to the octagon on the first Sunday of March.
Jon Jones' résume includes being a two-time Light Heavyweight Championship from 2011 to 2015, December 2018 to August 2020, and the longest unbeaten streak in UFC history of 18 straight fights.
#5 Lionel Messi, Football
Sorry Cristiano Ronaldo fans, the GOAT debate was settled when Lionel Messi led Argentina to a win in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The final win elevated Messi past the realm of mere mortals and into unparalleled standing at the top of the beautiful game. Before the World Cup win, Messi was already one of the most decorated football players in history.
His CV comprises Champions League wins, Player of the Year awards, and much more. However, football fans are more concerned with arguing who is the second-best player in history rather than withholding the crown from its rightful owner - seven-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi.
